At the end of the day, Shouichi felt sorry for Rin. There was no question that he should face consequences. After all, the man had tried to play detective in the worst possible way, and if Kaida's funeral had been any later, there was no telling how the situation may have played out. Yamaguchi could have been tied up for days, if the way Rin explained his determination to get answers was anything to go by. From the dead-eyed yet completely assured manner in which Rin had explained himself, Shouichi had wondered if they may have ended up with another body on their hands if there hadn't been any intervention. And yes, all indicators were that Rin had been correct about Yamaguchi, even if he had been operating on a somewhat flawed logic. Nonetheless, that didn't negate the criminality of Rin's actions towards her.

So he had to face consequences. There were no two ways about that. Yet, when Shouichi finished up the interview with Rin and headed towards the interview room Hirotaro was waiting in, he had a sour feeling in his stomach.

Perhaps it was also because of how dead-eyed Rin had looked throughout the interrogation. But it was also likely due to how meekly he had accepted his fate. Despite his lawyer's efforts, he had stated simply that he would accept whatever punishment came, so long as Yamaguchi did not get away with things. And though he had not seen Rin at the graveyard, the description of how that scene had unfolded reminded him that before all of this, Rin had merely been a victim, a bereaved family member.

And he still is, really, Shouichi acknowledged. Even after all of this, his daughter is still dead.

He couldn't think too much about that, though. In order to do what was right, he had to push through. But nonetheless, he wasn't able to gain any satisfaction from this. Perhaps if he could untangle some of this mess and work out how it could help bring back the surviving kidnapped students, then he could feel satisfied.

The next person he was interviewing was Hirotaro Kuroki, which he suspected would be a different experience entirely. Indeed, when he arrived at the interview room, Hirotaro appeared to be on the phone, brow furrowed very slightly as he listened to whomever was on the other end of the line. He didn't acknowledge Shouichi's presence at all, but instead after a few moments just said:

"I understand, proceed as you must, and I shall do the same."

He then hung up, and put his phone down on the table. He then looked up to Shouichi and, astonishingly, explained:

"The Izawa family have officially fired me. They claim that I incited Rin Adachi's harassment."

Hirotaro did not look particularly bothered by this, in any way shape or form. Instead, his gaze remained evenly on Shouichi as he sat down. Shouichi had been about to apologise for keeping him waiting, but decided to use this as his way to start things off. So, once the formalities had been done with, he asked:

"Would you agree with that assessment?"

"Would you?"

Hirotaro stared at Shouichi, and Shouichi stared right back. He didn't know what game Hirotaro was playing here, but two could play at it. Eventually, though, Hirotaro broke his gaze, but only to look pointedly at Shouichi's folder, and then at his watch, before returning to looking directly at Shouichi.

"I assume you wish for me to tell you what occurred?"

Hirotaro then went on to give a neat, potted account of what had happened. For the most part, it had matched with what Rin and Misa had both said. But there was one part which was conspicuously absent.

"So," Shouichi asked. "You did not prevent the other parties from calling for help by snatching phones from Enjou-san's hands?"

"One of those phones was my own," Hirotaro replied, completely unruffled. "And Adachi-san had already attempted to prevent us from communicating. I think I am perfectly entitled to take my own device."

"Yours, yes, But not somebody else's. How do you explain that?"

"A brief lapse in judgement is understandable in such a situation, is it not? I did not want the situation to escalate, especially as Adachi-san seemed quite…disturbed, shall we say?"

"The best way to de-escalate the situation would have been to get help, would it not?"

"I am sure that Adachi-san told you himself, he had an obsession with obtaining answers. Do you not think further interference would have made things worse? Are you trained in hostage negotiation?"

Shouichi did, in a roundabout sort of way, see the point that Hirotaro was attempting to make in that regard. Somehow, though, he didn't think that was the motivation behind it. There was something about the way Hirotaro watched him, perfectly still, but bright-eyed, that put him on edge. He would return to that later, though, for there was still one more thing that he needed to know:

"I have explanations for why the other involved parties had gone to the Yamaguchi house," he started. "But you have not explained why it is that you were there in the first place."

"Like Adachi-san, I had some suspicions about Yamaguchi-san's involvement, especially in the wake of that young security guard having been exposed as an accomplice."

"Could you explain what those suspicions were?"

"Are they relevant?"

"In that it led to your involvement in this situation, yes."

Hirotaro sighed, though just a little, and then said:

"Very well. I have reason to believe that the Izawa family know more than they are admitting. They have not been as cooperative as one may have expected, considering that they hired me. Of course, now they have fired me but that isn't what we are discussing."

"How does this relate to Yamaguchi-san?"

"She has visited their house a number of times, and I have overheard phone calls that appeared to be to her. Nothing substantiative, but it was clear Ichiko Izawa was ordering her to do things in and around Hope's Peak academy. I have also seen Yamaguchi-san retrieving papers from the Izawas and taking them home, though I have not had the chance to see what those were. However, Yamaguchi-san has also suggested to the Izawas that they visit her house in the future as a way of avoiding suspicion. That way, she said, it will look more like ordinary friends visiting each other. I am sure you can infer, then, what it was I was attempting to do."

"So you drove to the Yamaguchi residence in order to catch Ichiko Izawa communicating with her about…something relating to the case."

"Relating to the case, or perhaps not. Are you aware that your own Organised Crime department have been looking quite closely into the Izawas in the wake of the revelations about the Motowaris?"

"I imagine they are looking quite closely into all their connections."

"You know, then, the story behind Itsuo Izawa's brother and the brother's two teenaged children. Or rather, the lack of story. Whether the Motowaris themselves were directly responsible, or they simply connected the Izawas with the people needed for the job is unclear. But you can imagine that they wouldn't want such a thing surfacing, if indeed that is the truth."

"I would ask you to spell out exactly what you are saying, but we are derailing. So, to reiterate, you were watching the Yamaguchi household in order to get evidence of your suspicions regarding the Izawas involvement?"

"That is correct."

"Did you see the Izawas come to visit?"

"On Wednesday morning, yes."

"On Wednesday. So, in that case, did you see Rin Adachi enter the Yamaguchi house?"

Hirotaro blinked rapidly a few times.

"Would it have made a difference if I had or not?" he asked slowly.

"You and I are both aware that having a precise timeline makes all the difference," Shouichi said. "And yet you are stonewalling what should be a simple interview with your evasions? Why is that?"

"I do not wish to stretch this out any more than you do. After all, I have my own investigation to conduct."

Hirotaro raised an eyebrow, but apart from that, he could have simply been describing the weather for how unruffled he sounded. Shouichi sighed, but did not immediately ask his next question. He suspected that Hirotaro had seen Rin break in, but didn't want to admit it. Had he seen an earlier part of the confrontation? Had he done anything about it? Or had he just watched?

Watched…like….the moment the thought occurred to him; he seized upon it to ask the question:

"But you've been in this position before, have you not, Kuroki-san?"

This did get a blink out of him, but slow.

"Whatever do you mean by that?"

"I think you know, but let me spell it out for you. Ottillie Nylund's attempted kidnapping. "

Hirotaro raised an eyebrow.

"Explain."

"You admitted it yourself, that you had been baiting Masakazu Tomioka into thinking he would be meeting with her in order to catch him in the act. Which is why you were watching when he spotted her and tried to kidnap her."

Hirotaro crossed his arms, again raising an eyebrow.

"And?"

"That's all you did. Watch."

And now he had given the suspicion voice, Shouichi was disgusted. He couldn't fathom how it was that Hirotaro had just been able to sit there and watch it all unfold.

"Perhaps I could have acted faster. I am capable of acknowledging that much. However, the situation was under control before I could truly do anything, in any case."

"The same cannot be said for this situation, though, can it?"

Shouichi leant forward.

"There were plenty of times you could have intervened. You could have stepped when you first saw-"

"Assuming that I did, of course. Don't put words in my mouth, now, Chief Inspector."

Shouichi bristled, but reluctantly conceded, easing back a fraction. But only a fraction, as he continued:

"If you had seen him initially, then. But then, when the three women were talking about what to do, you could have done something differently. You could have called the police then, or at least when you had taken back your phone."

Hirotaro stared, then lowered his eyes briefly. Shouichi would have interpreted that as a glimmer of shame, if not for how quickly he lifted his gaze again, smiling slightly.

"May I show you something? It's on my phone."

Before Shouichi could grant or deny permission, Hirotaro took out his phone and tapped a few times before setting it down, showing that he was playing a recording.

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

Shouichi couldn't identify the adult female voice saying this, though it did sound familiar. However, it also sounded somewhat removed in a way he couldn't pin down either. But then the next voices were much clearer:

"Have you…did you place recording devices around the school?" Yamaguchi's flustered voice demanded. "How did you get that past us?! Don't tell me, Ichiko-san asked you to-"

"What is this? What are you playing?"

This clearly came from Rin, his voice distorted with baffled anger and disbelief, a contrast to its current flatness. Then there was Alexis, who cautiously said:

"I have to admit, I would like to know the same myself."

"Why don't we keep listening?"

Hirotaro gave a small, knowing smile at listening to himself saying the words, nodding at the recording as if to invite Shouichi to also keep listening. He gritted his teeth, but did indeed keep listening. As he did, he watched Hirotaro carefully, trying to glean something, anything from the private eye's reactions. Yet, apart from the way he stared at his phone screen fixedly, he gave nothing away.

They kept listening up until Yamaguchi on the recording said:

"The point is, I'd dosed the drink with sleeping pills. She had no idea what hit her, and I had handed her over by the time the police came. You never would have found her. Satisfied now?"

At that point, Hirotaro paused the recording, and then looked Shouichi squarely in the eye.

"I think that's a good place to stop it, no? I have recorded right up until Adachi-san left the residence. I suspect that this would be of interest to you."

"This certainly is very useful evidence. As for the recording that you played for them-"

"I will provide that to you as well, of course. You can understand that I had to use it for my own investigations. Like you, I am paid to do a job-"

"It should have been handed in immediately regardless, but what I am more interested in knowing was, who gave it to you? Or rather, how did you obtain the first recording?" Shouichi asked.

"It was given to me over the weekend." Hirotaro said. "Although I suspect that you would not be satisfied with that answer."

"A student, or another member of staff?"

Was it Clio Fujita, was what he really wanted to ask. After all, Rin's report of Clio's skittish reaction to Yamaguchi had been one of the things that had raised his suspicions. Yet, he hadn't mentioned having known about the recording, and despite Misa's assumption that he had known, somehow Shouichi didn't think Rin would have neglected to mention it if he had. The chances were then, that hearing Hirotaro play it was the first he had known of it at all.

And yet, Rin hadn't found an explanation for Clio's reaction. Whether Ririka or Alexis might have known, he'd have to find out from his colleagues later.

"I think you should be able to work out who it was, regardless." Hirotaro said eventually. "But regardless. I have cooperated fully. I have volunteered information, even if later than I should have. So there is no reason for us to continue."

"Your actions, or lack of them could be construed as obstruction of justice. "

"You don't have enough to get me arrested on that basis, though, do you? Just suspicions, most of which I have given decent explanations of."

Shouichi pursed his lips. He wouldn't necessarily go as far as to call all of Hirotaro's answers explanations, but nonetheless any case against him was flimsy at best. And much to his chagrin, he had to admit that to himself.

"In any case, I do have matters to sort out, as I am sure you can imagine. So, if we're done here…"

Reluctantly, Shouichi concurred.

"We are now done here. Of course, if there are further questions I hope you will cooperate."

"Naturally, Chief Inspector." Hirotaro said, already getting up.

"In that case, thank you for your cooperation." Shouichi said, working hard to keep his tone even.

We're not done here, not by any means. But I'll let you go all the same.

Shouichi wrapped things up and sent Hirotaro on his way, before then busying himself with the next task. But this interview had also left a sour feeling in his stomach, just for completely different reasons.

He just hoped there would be a breakthrough coming that could shift it.

Ririka had never been to her father's office.

Or maybe she had been, when she was little. She didn't think it likely, but it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibility. But since she didn't know for sure, she thought it was safest to say she'd never been there before. She hadn't particularly wanted or intended to, either.

And yet, when she'd come out of the police station after being questioned, Sakichi had been waiting there, and had ushered her into the car despite her protests. She'd gathered that Hirotaro had reached out to him, which was how he had known in the first place. But she hadn't been able to fathom why it was he'd been waiting outside the station for her when she had finally finished the interview. He hadn't really given a reason either, simply peppering her with questions through the entire drive, some of which she'd answered and some of which she'd waved away. He seemed to have given up halfway through, and after a while of enjoying the merciful silence, she had gathered her wits enough to try and protest again, when she realised that they had arrived.

Sakichi got out first, then went around to open the door for her. He frowned at her, and then stated:

"You don't have any injuries."

Ririka wasn't entirely sure if this was a question or not, but she answered anyway:

"No. Adachi-san didn't hurt any of us, apart from Yamaguchi-san…"

She trailed off, remembering the state Yamaguchi had been in, and how Rin had seemed to completely lose control. Sakichi frowned at her, but then said:

"You see my point now?"

"What point?"

"About Hope's Peak."

"She didn't though, did she?"

Ririka didn't realise she had said this until the words had left her mouth, overlapping with Misa's. It was enough to surprise even Rin, who let go of Yamaguchi's blouse and straightened again. Yamaguchi turned her attention to Ririka.

"I'm surprised you're here."

Ririka did not know what to say to that, and remained silent. Yamaguchi raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to end up going the same way as your brother, then?"

And despite everything, she still couldn't quite make herself acknowledge what that little throwaway comment had meant.

"Ririka?"

She blinked and then sighed.

"Let's go inside. Then you can tell me what you need to tell me."

And maybe I'll tell you this, too. But that plan crumbled when they got upstairs and saw Nazuna and Konoha sitting in the small waiting area, looking as though they had been comfortable for a long time. Ririka noticed that, leaning against the wall next to the girls' bags, there was a sturdy looking black umbrella, despite the clear weather.

Nazuna was already sitting ramrod straight, fiddling with the end of her plait, but she stiffened when Sakichi and Ririka came in. Konoha, on the other hand, was somewhat slouching, her goggles in her hands, as though she were bored. Yet, her gaze tracked Sakichi and Ririka steadily.

"Sorry," a man whom Ririka assumed to be Sakichi's assistant said. "I did tell them you would be a while."

"That's fine. What are you doing here?" Sakichi said to the two girls.

Nazuna immediately got up, and calmly said:

"I am very sorry for troubling you, but I wanted to clarify something with you about somebody that you know."

Sakichi raised an eyebrow, then gruffly indicated that the two girls should go into a separate room. Following them in, Ririka realised that this was Sakichi's own office. Though Konoha sat down, Nazuna, like Ririka, remained standing. Sakichi sat down at his desk, and regarded them with some confusion before asking:

"Who?"

"The man who was here when you brought us here before," Konoha answered. "After you'd found us in the archives."

Sakichi raised an eyebrow, still clearly confused. Ririka couldn't blame him. She'd pieced together that this was about the recording that Keiji had given her but was clueless beyond that. When he didn't answer, Konoha clarified:

"You called him Shiranui."

"Yes, but why do the two of you want to know?"

"I'm going to show you something." Nazuna said, reaching into the pocket of her jacket.

She withdrew a small envelope, and from that, took out what looked like a polaroid. She held it out, and Sakichi took it from her and frowned at it. Curious despite herself, Ririka also took a look.

"He's younger there," Nazuna said. "Evidently. Nonetheless, you should be able to confirm whether or not that is your Shiranui, should you not?"

Konoha got up now to scrutinise the picture, only to simply shoot a confused look at Nazuna after a few seconds. Ririka looked at the picture, showing a dark-haired man crouching down next to a toddler who looked as if he or she was enthusiastically hitting a toy drum. The toddler looked somewhat out of focus, presumably because the picture had been taken while she was moving, but the child's smile was very clear. Despite his tattoos and his overall intimidating aura, the man looked as if he were amused by the child's antics. Of course, Ririka was curious about the man too, but there was something else that she was wondering about too.

"Who's the child?" Ririka asked.

Nazuna looked surprised at that, but then thoughtful. She held out her hand and waited for Sakichi to hand it back, which he did, hesitantly. As he did, Ririka noticed that somebody had written 'Oboro and Kagura' with a date underneath. 2006, or 2007, though the ink had smudged there. Even though Nazuna hadn't answered her question, Ririka could probably guess. Yes, the toddler in the photo was brunette, but she was pretty sure Kagura's golden hair colour was the result of hair dye anyway.

Which means…?

"How do you have this?" Sakichi demanded.

"Kagura left it in her things, along with some notes about Shiranui. Notes which said that…."

Nazuna hesitated.

"Well. Never mind that, for the time being. It's him, isn't it? It's Oboro Shiranui."

"It is, yes. You didn't explain how you got this."Sakichi said.

"I mean, she kind of did," Konoha remarked. "It was a component of Nabenashi-san's things."

Nazuna nodded at that, and elaborated:

"She asked me to retrieve her investigation notes, her laptop and some old photographs. She didn't want them going missing, and there were certain things she didn't want revealed. This photograph is one of the items that relates to that, but given that you, Detective Enjou, appear to inexplicably be working with him, I do not think that concern applies to you."

Nazuna bit her lip, then continued:

"I had thought of doing it the other way around, actually. To ask you, Kagematsu-san, and Matsumoto-san and Clio-san too, if you recognised the man in the picture, and then bring this here. Then at least I would have had something stronger upon which to base my accusations."

"What Nabenashi-kun left you wasn't enough?" Sakichi queried.

Nazuna pursed her lips at that and turned the photograph around again, so that the picture of the man and toddler faced outwards once more. Sakichi just sighed.

"Alright. Yes. That is Oboro Shiranui. Kagura Nabenashi's father. Why do you want to know?"

Though she had guessed it, hearing it voiced gave Ririka a shock. She had to put that aside, though, so she could see how Nazuna answered.

"I want to arrange a meeting with him. Ideally it would be here, but if not then it should be in a relatively public place. I'll bring somebody to accompany me, and I would also like you to be present."

"Me? Why?"

"For safety, of course. After all, he could have been the one to kidnap her and take her to whomever is holding them all captive."

Ririka gasped, Konoha gawped and Sakichi snorted.

"That's impossible."

"Is it? Is it really?"

"We ran the background check twice. Apart from the obvious pings from his yakuza past and his prison sentence, there's nothing that was a cause for concern."

They all gawped at the assistant, who looked a little sheepish after making that proclamation, hovering in the doorway as if unsure of how to proceed. Konoha stared at him for a moment.

"That background check Detective Enjou asked you about when we came here on Sunday, that was the second one?" she eventually asked.

"Yeah…"

"When did you run the first one, then?"

"I'm telling you, it's impossible."

With that brisk answer, Sakichi didn't give the assistant the chance to respond, going on to add:

"Even if it were true, it would be stupid. Why would you meet a kidnapping suspect?"

"That is why I am requesting a meeting here, with witnesses." Nazuna said through gritted teeth.

"Hey, Kurihara-san, maybe you could ask Detective Enjou about this Shiranui person instead? Wouldn't it be enough to just talk about him? That way you can confirm whatever theory it is you have." Konoha suggested.

Nazuna shook her head, tried and failed several times to try and explain whatever was on her mind. She then drew the photograph close to her again, and stared at it before closing her eyes and then said, quite heavily:

"I think, quite frankly, I've had enough of the uncertainty."

She opened her eyes and looked at them all with an intensity that wasn't quite a glare but was teetering awfully close to it. A silence followed, only punctuated by the assistant pointedly ducking away to return to his work, resuming typing more intensely than before, as if to make a point of not listening to whatever happened next. Then again, it wasn't as if Ririka quite knew what to do in this moment either.

She looked at Nazuna, standing there resolutely. It was clear that she would not leave unless she got answers of some sort, just how Rin had refused to let Yamaguchi go until he had gotten his answers. She didn't think Nazuna would resort to violence, but then again, she would never had imagined Rin doing such a thing either.

"Dad," she murmured. "Couldn't you just explain?"

Sakichi glared at her.

"Ririka, this isn't your problem."

"You're the one who brought me here," Ririka said. "So I wouldn't go that far."

"Look, let's just go, and maybe come back another time-" Konoha started, starting to appear uncomfortable with the situation.

"No." Nazuna insisted. "As I have said, I am more than willing to wait."

And she sat back down, and stared at Sakichi. Again, not glaring, but almost glaring. Sakichi stared at her, muttered something about ridiculous teenagers, then stared at the photograph, which Nazuna was gripping tight enough to make creases in it. She didn't seem to notice, so intent she was on staring down Sakichi.

Ririka didn't honestly expect him to give in, but after a few moments, he rubbed his face tiredly and said:

"Fine. I'll give him a call. I don't have time to wait around, though. There's no point you waiting afterwards, either."

Nazuna nodded and sat down on the chair next to Konoha's. Ririka considered the third, empty chair- a black computer chair-but decided against it. Sakichi retrieved his phone, scrolled through, then held it to his ear. After a few seconds, he started speaking:

"It's me, Shiranui. No, I haven't heard anything more. Kuroki-san hasn't told me anymore. The Izawa family have fired him. No, I don't think he will let it go. That isn't why I'm calling you. I've got someone here that you might want to talk to."

Sakichi frowned, and then his expression slackened in a way Ririka couldn't interpret, before settling back into a more familiar exasperation:

"No. No. Not your kid. I'm sorry. But her girlfriend. Yeah, that's the one. Turns out, your daughter left something or other that implicates you. Most likely, it's because of what we suspected. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah."

A few moments of listening, and:

"Well, she hasn't said anything about police, but she also refused to leave. Wanted me to confirm who you were. She also wants to meet you. Is that something you're willing to do? Depending on what happens after this afternoon, we may need to start exposing some of what we agreed on."

There was a longer pause this time, and then Sakichi raised an eyebrow and handed over his phone. Nazuna regarded it with trepidation, then carefully took it. Looking at the photograph once more, she asked.

"My name is Nazuna Kurihara-"Nazuna started. "Yes. Yes, that's right. And I can take that to mean that you're Oboro Shiranui, correct? Kagura's father."

Being curious about things hadn't exactly led to good places for her, but nonetheless Ririka was curious to know where this conversation was going. However, it was in that moment that her own phone started to go off, and excusing herself, she quietly left the office and answered the phone without looking at who had called:

"Hello?"

"Hey there!"

Whomever she had been expecting to call her, it most certainly had not been Benkei, and it took more than a few seconds for her brain to catch up.

"Hello there, Utada-san. How can I help you?"

"You free tonight? If you are, why don't you swing by Groove N' Slide tonight?"

"…Utada-san, if for some reason you're asking me out on a date, now isn't the time."

"H-huh? No, no, I wasn't! Well, maybe like, what's the word? Planet-no, wait, platonically! A buddies date, y'know? I mean, I heard about what happened so like, you clearly need to destress and stuff, you know?"

"I, um, appreciate the thought, but I'm not really a roller-skating type of person-"

"Nah, you don't gotta be, you know! You can always just watch, or we have plenty of good food here too, and a jukebox and…ahem, anyway…"

Benkei cleared his throat a couple of times, and then in a heavier tone of voice continued:

"That isn't why I'm asking you to come around though. Actually, I've just got here, and we've not even opened up for the evening yet, but there's something you need to see."

"Something I need to see?" she echoed.

"Yeah. It's…well, I haven't opened it yet, but I think it's from Kiko. It looks like her handwriting on the envelope."

Ririka didn't answer-couldn't answer. A few moments went by, and then Benkei asked uncertainly:

"Um…are you still there?"

"I…I'll come. Just hold on, alright?"

"Sure thing! See you later!"

She hung up, and peered back into Sakichi's office. Nazuna still appeared to be on the phone while Konoha and Sakichi waited.

"I've got to go, Dad."

"What? Where? You just got here!"

"Something's come up, I need to go."

"Hmph. Well. If you need to be dropped off-"

"No, it's fine," Ririka cut him off quickly. "I can find my own way. See you later, Dad."

Ignoring his protests-which felt too forced to her-she quickly left.

Shouichi's next stop was to Yamaguchi's house, which was now being searched for more conclusive evidence of her involvement in the disappearances. A crime scene investigator met him downstairs and explained that there was very little of interest in that part of the house, apart from a few photographs which pointed to a longstanding relationship between Yamaguchi and Ichiko Izawa, Tomoka Suwasaka and Nanako Motowari, as well as an overall longstanding relationship with Hope's Peak. These photographs had already been taken away, but apparently the ones upstairs had not.

Shouichi then went up to the room in which Rin had held Yamaguchi captive for a day, trying to get his answers. Where he, now, was trying to get answers. A detective was sitting on the floor, going through a shoebox full of newspaper cuttings. Shouichi crouched down, offering a polite greeting, before glancing at the cuttings.

"Are these all about the disappearance, then?"

"They appear to be, though there's nothing about the Motowari family."

Shouichi frowned.

"So, nothing recent?"

"Well, naturally there's nothing from yesterday or today," the other detective corrected. "But there's other articles as well, including those about the press conference as a whole. But a curious lack of anything to do with Hayami Motowari or her parents."

"That is strange, considering." Shouichi said. "Though everything about the Motowari family's involvement in all of this could also be considered strange. Naturally, we'll be looking more closely at these once they are taken away, but is there anything else that jumps out at you?"

"Well, there are some articles in here from a long time ago. 2004, 2002 and somewhere in the eighties. Funny though, the eighties articles aren't about a crime or anything, it's some gossipy thing about the Enoshimas. You know, the former Hope's Peak principal and his family."

Before Shouichi could ask to have a look, a junior officer burst into the room and said:

"Sir! I've just had a call from Towa Central Hospital! Apparently, Toki Yamaguchi has demanded to speak to the 'person in charge' of the investigation."

"Is she willing to talk now?"

"Apparently so, yes."

"Understood. Thank you. Could you call the station and ask for an available detective to meet me at the hospital?"

"Of course, sir!"

Shouichi bid the detective and crime scene investigators farewell, then left the Yamaguchi house. He received a message from Hanaoka stating that she would be the one to join him, and as it turned out, they arrived at the same time, meaning they were able to go to Yamaguchi together. The nurses attending to Yamaguchi confirmed that she was well enough to manage the interview she had asked for. And indeed, despite the welts all over her body and her heavily bandaged arm and ribs, she didn't look particularly unwell. If anything, she was sitting straight, eyes alert, face set determinedly. As the recording equipment was set up, and Shouichi and Hanaoka got the preliminaries sorted, Yamaguchi adjusted her hospital gown with her uninjured hand and smoothed down her hair.

"Just to make it clear, you haven't won here. I still have some loyalty and integrity."

And what, exactly, does this integrity and loyalty mean in the face of dead children? Shouichi wanted to ask. Yamaguchi must have seen something in his face, because she sneered.

"Look. I'm not a monster, despite first impressions. But you do what you need to do to stay alive, you know?"

"Yamaguchi-san," Hanaoka started. "If you feel that you are under threat-"

Yamaguchi shook her head, still sneering:

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, do you?"

"If you were to tell us, then perhaps we would have an idea." Shouichi told her.

Yamaguchi shook her head again but became stony-faced.

"Even brats don't deserve such a grisly fate. I'm in no position to save them, and I wouldn't try. It's better to just let this play out. But I have nothing against Kaida Adachi's mother, even if she did slap me. And I can't say I have had real issues with Naruhito Ono's father, and I do not even know who Ena Setsushi's family are."

Shouichi blinked, immediately recalling:

"Just tell me!" Yuuto was shouting. "Just tell me, damn it! Is it Ena? Is it?"

Yamada tried to say something about informing the family first, but Yuuto cut him off, leaning into the officer's face.

"I'm not fucking asking who it is if it's not Ena!" he yelled. "I can't care about that yet. Just tell me if it isn't Ena! And if it is…if it is…then why the hell are you talking about family? I am…she…."

Even though Yuuto bit his lip and averted his eyes rather than complete the sentence, Shouichi knew that he probably wanted to say I'm her family. But just as he was not the type of person to let tears fall, neither was he the type to say that to anyone, let alone an adult in authority.

"So," Yamaguchi went on. "I'll tell you about their disappearances, and how I was involved. No more, and no less. Like I said, I'll do what I need to survive, but that doesn't mean I'm going to turn weak and betray everything I've worked for, unlike certain people."

Shouichi and Hanaoka exchanged a look, and he nodded to her that she could take the lead, which she did.

"Very well. Then, let us start in chronological order, as it was, shall we?"

When they were out, Hanaoka exhaled heavily:

"That's a pretty big lead, huh? It might me one of the biggest we've had so far."

"It certainly is a breakthrough, but it does raise a lot more questions than answers."

"That's true," Hanaoka acknowledged. "Just who are all these people protecting? And why are they protecting this person to the extent of helping them do all of….this?"

And perhaps the most pertinent question, Shouichi thought, is just how far up the hierarchy does this go?

"Hopefully, the search of Yamaguchi-san's house will prove insightful. However, I think the priority now will be to inform Ono-san and Oshiro-kun of these new developments," Shouichi said instead. "Adachi-san and Aikawa-san have an idea of what happened, since Yamaguchi-san already confessed to them, such as it were."

"Right, right," Hanaoka said. "So, how do you want to handle this?"

"I'll have to ask you to handle informing Ono-san by yourself, I'm afraid."

"I mean, that shouldn't be too much of an issue," Hanaoka said uncertainly. "But are you sure you don't want anyone with you when you go to handle Oshiro-kun?"

Slowly, Shouichi asked:

"Is there a reason for you asking that?"

"Ah, shit, yeah, we never got to tell you."

Hanaoka rubbed the back of her head, and said:

"When Fukue Amari was found, and we went to interview her friend, Oshiro-kun was there. He witnessed Fujita-san's upset over having Yamaguchi-san there and argued about it before storming off into Ena Setsushi's room. Fujita-san then told us that he had been staying in there for a few days now."

"There is more to it than that, is there not?" Shouichi asked.

Hanaoka nodded and bit her lip, before saying:

"It sounds as if he's shut himself up in there."

Shouichi nodded, and then said:

"That's all the more reason I should go alone. I can assume he was rather combative?"

"Well, yes, but, Chief, he's not…I don't think this kind of pastoral thing is within our remit."

"No, but dealing with the loved ones of crime victims is. Besides, Hope's Peak's track record with pastoral care is not the greatest. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this position."

Hanaoka pulled a face, but conceded:

"I suppose that is true. Alright then, let's do it that way."

"Good. Come straight back to the station afterwards and get everyone to gather in the incident room if they aren't doing something already."

"Got it! Do you want me to make sure a room's available for you?"

Shouichi thought about this and then nodded. Then, once he had thanked Hanaoka, they went their separate ways.

Heading to the dorms after signing in, Shouichi was both surprised and not surprised to see that Alexis had gone straight back to work after everything.

"I've been in much worse situations, to be honest," Alexis explained rather briskly. "In any case, working helps. On top of that, this incident has made me think that it is best for me to be here than anywhere else."

Shouichi was curious about what she meant by that, but decided to put that aside for now. Getting to Yuuto was his priority, so he explained the situation briefly. Alexis nodded and said:

"I can see from the lanyard that you're appropriately signed in, so that isn't an issue. I'll make sure people know you're around. Or actually, I'll come with you, but I will stay downstairs so I can make sure the students aren't too taken aback"

Shouichi thanked her, and then went into the dorms, heading up to where he remembered Clio's room to have been, knowing that the room Yuuto was now in was directly opposite it. He didn't hesitate in knocking on the door as loudly as he could.

"What?" a very irritated Yuuto responded.

"Oshiro-kun, this is Chief Inspector Kiyofuji. Could you open the door for a moment?"

Yuuto didn't say anything in response, but Shouichi heard shuffling noises before the door opened a crack and a gaunter, heavy-eyed Yuuto glowered through the gap. For a moment, all he did was glower. But then, suddenly, he stepped back, letting the door swing open as shakily, he exclaimed:

"Shit. Shit. It's Ena, isn't it? It's-"

Immediately, Shouichi knew what conclusion Yuuto had jumped to, and raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture:

"I am here about her, but not in the way you are think. We have had a new lead in regards to her disappearance. I wanted to take you to the station so that you could see the interview."

Yuuto froze, and didn't respond immediately. Shouichi gave him the time to gather his thoughts, and instead observed the room behind him. Yuuto seemed to have been drawing something, papers and pencils spread out all across the floor. The bin had been full at one point, since there was a neatly tied small bag next to it, and it was almost full again, mostly with a range of different food wrappers and containers. There were some clothes draped over the desk chair, but most of them seemed to be in a holdall bag in front of the wardrobe. The bed was made neatly, with a floral-patterned quilt and pillow covers, and a couple of heart-shaped cushions. In fact, it didn't look like it had been slept in at all, until Shouichi realised that the item on the floor at the foot of the bed was a sleeping bag.

He did not get the chance to survey the room further, because eventually Yuuto asked:

"What the fuck do you mean, see the interview?"

"The interviewee is currently hospitalised, so the interview had to be done in hospital. It shed some light on Setsushi-san's abduction, which is what I have come to inform you of."

"Oh. Right."

Yuuto swallowed, then squared his shoulders. He went back into the room, and gathered together the drawing supplies on the floor, before then obtaining a bag and chucking them all into it, alongside his phone and wallet. He then appeared to think of something, going to his holdall to dig out a hoodie, which he shrugged on before returning to the door and staring challengingly at Shouichi.

"Well? Let's go then."

Shouichi simply nodded and led the way. Yuuto was silent the entire way, taking a sketchbook out and concentrating on whatever he was drawing in it. Though Shouichi had a lot to ask him in relation to what Hanaoka had said, he decided to let it be for the time being.

When they got to the station, it turned out that the room Hanaoka had arranged for them was the very same one in which Shouichi had talked to Seren's younger siblings. It wrong-footed him for a moment, but he supposed it fitted. The young officer who was setting things up greeted Shouichi, who returned the greeting before addressing Yuuto.

"Get yourself settled. Do you want something to drink?"

Yuuto shrugged as he sat on the sofa that Seren's parents had sat on. Shouichi quietly indicated to the officer that they should get something anyway and then opened the laptop to find the interview recording, which he did just as the officer came back with a can of coca cola. Once the officer had left, Yuuto asked.

"Is this, like, normal?"

Shouichi straightened and turned to Yuuto.

"What do you mean?"

"This. Showing interviews like this."

"I would not say it is normal, precisely," Shouichi said carefully. "But it is not completely unheard of to have witnesses or victims looking in on interviews from the observation room. Of course, given where this interview occurred, you couldn't have done that. Of course, I would not be able to take this footage outside of the station, which is why I asked you to come in."

Yuuto raised an eyebrow.

"Sure. Right. Whatever. Can we fucking get on with it?"

Shouichi started the recording from the point at which Hanaoka had asked Yamaguchi to describe things in chronological order. Yamaguchi had sighed heavily and said:

"That would be a matter of perspective when it comes down to it. But, I had been instructed to see about getting Naruhito Ono, and that is what I had aimed to do on that night."

"And by 'getting', you mean abducting." Hanaoka clarified.

"Yes, I suppose that is technically correct." Yamaguchi said, mouth twisting in distaste. "However, I would not be taking him to where the students were being….kept. Simply removing him from the school."

"And how were you planning to do that?"

"It was well known that he would spend time in the Inventing Labs after school hours were over, and often long after most others had given up for the day. He would often make sure his little friend who lived off-campus was seen home safely, but targeting him on that journey was apparently considered too risky an option. Besides, she didn't want the little friend."

"You seem like you were surprised by that." Shouichi watched himself say on screen.

Yamaguchi grimaced.

"I understand he was considered. The memory issues, you understand. Apparently that makes him 'interesting' for such things."

"What made the captor discount Junpei Ito in the end?"

"I said I wasn't going to talk about other matters," Yamaguchi huffed. "For what it's worth, I don't know. I don't understand how she thinks anymore and that's not my job. It wasn't my job to decide these things either. All I had to do was what I was asked, which boils down to making sure she could act as she pleased."

Yuuto turned to Shouichi, eyes flashing in irritation.

"What the fuck does this have to-"

"Keep listening," Shouichi told him. "I would not have called you out here if I did not feel it important."

Yuuto glowered but looked at the screen once more. Shouichi also returned his attention to it. His on-screen self had just asked Yamaguchi to return to talking about the night of Naruhito's abduction. Yamaguchi didn't answer immediately, shifting positions slightly on the hospital bed.

"I had been given doses of sedative-"

"What kind? From where?" Hanaoka interrupted.

"You'll no doubt be turning my house upside down, so you can find that out for yourselves. Now, do you want to hear about those two or not?"

On screen, Shouichi and Hanaoka exchanged looks, but then Shouichi gestured to Yamaguchi to go on:

"I was told I'd only need one dose, but I decided to carry two just in case, but what I was supposed to do was wait until I was sure that Ono-kun was the last student in the building where the workshops were situated, and then wait for him to leave before injecting him with the sedative and then take him to one of the art rooms. "

"The art rooms?" Hanaoka asked.

"The building is the nearest to the workshops and inventing labs, but still close to the forest. On top of that, the CCTV around the rooms on the right side were defunct, and a number of the rooms had been undergoing renovations that had been paused around the time of…I'd have to think, but the decision was made to halt the renovations to placate the public going on about strangers being able to access the school. Regardless, we had someone waiting in the relevant room. A contact of the Motowaris, I believe."

Yamaguchi stopped at this point to take a sip of water, and Yuuto leaned into the screen. The sentiment of hurry up and get on with it radiated off of him. Thankfully, as Shouichi knew, Yamaguchi did not drag things out.

"Of course, I could not lie in wait the entire time, I still had a job to do. However, I went back at regular intervals, and checked the sign-ins for each of the workshops. This is how I knew he would be in Inventing Lab B. It was nearly eight, a little after that perhaps, when the sign ins confirmed that only Ono-kun was left in the entire building. As we already knew, he could likely be in there until well after ten."

"Did you wait until that time?" on-screen Shouichi asked.

Yamaguchi once more stopped to sip some water, before saying:

"There was no sense in dragging things out, however, the later I waited the less likely it was for there to be witnesses. So I waited roughly another half an hour, and then headed back out, past the library. And as I did, I spotted Ena Setsushi."

Yuuto sucked in a breath, leaned in closer to the screen.

"Where precisely did you spot her?" Hanaoka asked.

"She was just standing outside, in the courtyard that's immediately next to the workshop building and the building where the Student Council are housed. She was carrying a carrier bag of snacks, so I presume she had been to the vending machine-"

"The vending machines," Yuuto murmured. "Of course."

"-but she seemed to be wandering back towards the direction of the library, and I thought I would be able to get back in unnoticed, but then for some reason she turned and looked at me. Which wasn't in the plan at all. I mean, she was in the plan, but she was meant to be taken care of later. I didn't know how I was going to manage this, but then she asked me if I needed any help with anything. So I thought quickly, and told her that yes, I did."

"What? What the fuck did you ask her to do?" Yuuto demanded of the screen, at the same time as Shouichi had asked the question in the recording (minus the swearing).

"I told her that there was a possibility a student had been taken unwell in the workshops, and since she was there, would she be able to assist quickly before getting in extra help."

As Yamaguchi was asked whether Ena had complied, Yuuto moaned quietly and shook his head, muttering:

"Fuck. Of course she did, of course she would have decided to help, why wouldn't she have..."

He trailed off to listen as Yamaguchi described Ena walking with more purpose to the workshops, while Yamaguchi trailed behind, waiting for the right moment to jab Ena with the extra dose of sedative that she had with her. She then went on to explain how that moment had come just as they'd approached Inventing Lab B, and that Naruhito had come out moments after, though still frowning at his phone. Yamaguchi had, by her account, been 'lucky' enough to still be technically behind him, and so she had tried to grab him from behind-

Yuuto pushed his chair back and stood up, storming towards the door. Shouichi quickly also got up and manoeuvred in front of him.

"Where are you going?"

"To…the hospital? To ask her why the fuck…." Yuuto glared at Shouichi, but then slumped. "Oh, shit, I don't know, just…why Ena? Did she say, why the fuck it had to be Ena, of all the people?"

He looked helplessly at the door, and then back at the laptop on the table again, before leaning heavily against the wall. Shouichi gave him a moment to gather himself as best as he could, and then said:

"It appears that she was acting on the orders of somebody else, and it was that person who had determined that Setsushi-san should be taken."

Yuuto snorted, still looking down at his shoes.

"That figures. Same for everyone, right?"

"That is correct."

Yuuto looked up at him then, with that same brittle look that he'd had on the night Ena had disappeared. Given the state of him, it was a miracle that he did not crumble right then and there. Seeing that, despite all the things he still had to do, Shouichi asked:

"When was the last time that you ate?"

Yuuto frowned.

"At some point. Ah, fuck…the morning, maybe?"

"I suspect that it was not anything particularly substantial, correct? Since it is practically dinnertime now, how about we go and get something to eat?"

Yuuto glowered, and for a moment Shouichi thought that the boy was going to refuse, a thought which he dreaded. But to his relief, Yuuto just shrugged and said:

"Sure. Whatever."

Not knowing Yuuto's tastes, Shouichi found a simple ramen place. He didn't seem particularly bothered by this, either way, but once their orders had arrived, Yuuto ate with surprising ferocity. They hadn't said anything to each other on the journey, and that didn't change now they were eating.

But eventually, Yuuto finished every last bite, then slurped the last of the broth before staring into his bowl intently as though its emptiness offended him. It seemed like a good time to try some sort of conversation.

"What were you drawing earlier?"

Yuuto looked up, eyebrows knotting together. Shouichi started to say that Yuuto didn't need to show him if he didn't want to, but then Yuuto huffed, and took the sketchbook out of his bag, and flipped it to the page he had been diligently working at on the journeys both to the police station and to the restaurant.

Shouichi leant in to study the drawing closely. It seemed to be a cross between a map of a city, and a sketch of that city on a spring day (if the number of trees laden with cherry blossom were anything to go by). The city surrounded a large park, also filled with flowers, and he easily identified the city's schools, hospital, some shops and public transport stations ,including some trains that ran on overhead rails.

"This is nice." Shouichi started, carefully.

"Psh, you can fucking say it," Yuuto sneered. "What the fuck is this place, right? Why the hell are you drawing some imaginary fucking place?"

"If you want to tell me, then I'd like to know. Otherwise, I will not pry."

Yuuto sneered but then looked down at his drawing and became melancholy.

"I'm starting to think…"

He stopped, swallowed, then tried again:

"I don't want to. And I shouldn't, really. I need to stay positive, it's what she'd want me to do. But…I'm starting to think I should be prepared for the possibility Ena won't come back."

His voice was the quietest that Shouichi had ever heard it.

"And if she doesn't come back, she needs a memorial too, right? Except, there's nothing about a standard memorial that would be enough. So I thought, hell, what about a house? I'd thought a hospital at first, maybe, but then I thought, fuck that. She's always giving, something needs to be given to her. So, a house. Like, houses are meant to be homes, right? Somewhere you're meant to belong and be safe and able to relax and stuff, right?"

Yuuto paused, though he continued staring at his sketchbook page. Shouichi made a mhm-hm noise, and Yuuto continued.

"And I tried to think, what sort of house, home, whatever, what kind of place would she want to come back to? Like, cosy shit everywhere, you know, cushions and blankets and stuff, and big windows to let in all the sun, that sort of thing…but that still didn't feel enough. How could one single building be enough to memorialise someone like Ena? Besides, she'd still want to give, somehow. She's not as fucking selfish as I am. And so…"

"And so, you've designed a city. A memorial city." Shouichi concluded.

Yuuto lifted his head then, but only slightly.

"Yeah. But it's still not fucking enough."

Shouichi didn't respond to this immediately, instead taking a closer look at the city. This imaginary place seemed to him to be very welcoming. It had the liveliness and variety of a standard city, but it did not seem like a place where people would fall through the cracks, somewhere people could disappear and not be found. People were people, and so it would be impossible to truly eradicate crime, or any of the problems that came from rubbing up against other people regularly. But all the same, the city was spacious, cheerful, clean and caring. Whether someone lived in the apartments there, or one of the houses, it would very much be a home.

It was an idealised place, of course. He couldn't imagine somewhere like that ever being built. Nonetheless, in looking at it, he got a sense of not just who Ena Setsushi was, but who she was to Yuuto. And so Shouichi asked:

"Does she know just how much you love her?"

Yuuto's eyes widened, before he then blinked rapidly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well. Fuck. I mean. That's…does it make a difference? I'd be by her side, regardless. Or, I would be, if I hadn't fucking screwed up and-"

"Oshiro-kun, listen to me. Setsushi-san's disappearance is not your fault. It is only the fault of those who had a direct role-"

"Yeah, I fell asleep and didn't stop her from wandering out alone, that's pretty fucking direct, that's…that's…"

"I mean those who actively decided they wanted to take her, and who carried out the steps necessary to do that. Such as Yamaguchi-san, as you have just heard."

Yuuto stopped. His grip on the sketchbook tightened, and then he sighed.

"Regardless. Ena's, she's got places to go, you know? She's got plans for the future," his voice took on an incredulous note. "All these amazing things she's going to do with her life. I don't want to hold her back from that. And I would, you know. So it's not like I could tell her. "

There were the obvious things Shouichi could have said to that. He could have said how Yuuto was selling himself short, that he wouldn't be holding Ena back, that there was nothing to worry about. But those were just platitudes, and he knew that Yuuto would see right through them. And so he should.

So, then, what to say? There were facts, maybe. Such as the recent discovery Shouichi had made, that not only had Yuuto listed Ena as his next of kin in his Hope's Peak records, but that Ena Setsushi had listed him as her next of kin.

When he had discovered this, Shouichi had been looking through interviews with their class's homeroom teacher, and with some admin assistants, and pieced together that both of them had made this change at some point in their second year at Hope's Peak-and that prior to this, neither of them had listed another person. Yuuto's refusal to give this information hadn't surprised anyone particularly, but it had been notable where Ena had been concerned. For someone who had always ever been the diligent, cooperative student, her steadfast side-stepping of the next of kin question had baffled staff enough that it had been memorable to them.

Of course, they hadn't thought too much about the fact that the next of kin was a fellow student. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened, though usually the students in question were already related in some capacity. But one didn't just list anyone as their next of kin. And Yuuto had almost said it himself, back when Seren's body had been found.

But somehow, he didn't think that this would help either. And so, he ate some more of his ramen, pondered everything he knew about Yuuto and Ena. And then, after a few moments had passed, he said:

"Perhaps you should allow her to make that choice."

"H-huh?"

"You trust her judgement, don't you? I suspect there would be times you disagree with her, because nobody can be in 100% agreement with someone 100% of the time, no matter how much they love them. But regardless of that, you trust her judgement. You know she is capable of making her own decisions and conducting her life."

"Y….yes? The fuck are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that whether you are worthy, or whether you would 'hold her back' are not things for you to decide. They are for her to decide. So, trust her as you would usually do, and let her make that choice for herself."

Yuuto tilted his head, then looked down at the picture of Ena's memorial city.

"Will she get the chance to do that, though?"

Almost immediately, he answered his own question:

"Can't answer that, can you?"

Yuuto tapped the drawing, then shook his head before putting it away. He then reached for his bowl again before letting out a huff of irritation at seeing it empty.

"Do you want to order another one?" Shouichi asked.

Yuuto gave him a sceptical glare, and Shouichi said:

"It's no issue. Honestly. "

Yuuto continued to glower for a few moments more but eventually nodded. So, after checking Yuuto wanted more of the same, Shouichi flagged down the waiter who'd served them before and ordered another bowl. And after some thought, he ordered another (but smaller) bowl for himself, too.

Benkei was chatting cheerily with some of his front desk employees when Ririka arrived but immediately turned to her with a broad smile and sauntered over.

"Hey, you're here! Let's get you around to the office-ah, but first come, let me show you around!"

"Ah, no, I'm not really-"

Benkei stopped and frowned exaggeratedly at her, before laughing awkwardly.

"Of course, of course. Don't mind me. It's just I thought since you're here anyway, you may as well see all that this little place of mine has to offer. Still, want to order something from the diner or the bar? As a little treat? It's on me!"

"Ah, well…." Ririka hesitated.

Now she thought of it, she hadn't finished that much of her lunch. She didn't really feel like eating a proper meal, but she could see the sense in eating something. Not that she thought there'd be anything particularly nutritious on the Groove N' Slide menu-which was very quickly confirmed. Though the kitchen still looked as if they were setting up (apparently, during the week they only opened in the evenings, whereas they opened all day on weekends), Benkei sweet-talked them into making something for both of them, and sweet-talked Ririka into choosing a knickerbocker glory before they finally headed to the office.

Of course, the office was not set up like a typical office. The most normal thing were the cupboards and filing cabinet (though they had been decorated or painted in bright colours and stickers), and the desk. But Benkei apparently sat on a giant exercise ball instead of a chair. There was also a gigantic neon-green inflatable chair, but Ririka didn't fancy sitting on that. Uncomfortably, still holding the knickerbocker glory (which was quite possibly the largest dessert she'd ever seen in her life), she looked around her as Benkei arranged his assortment of treats across his desk, pushing aside all sorts of things to get the space. Luckily, after a moment, he looked up, made a noise of surprise, and then rushed across the office and procured a foldable chair from beneath a pile of what looked like clothes and flattened boxes. He set it out for her before sitting on his bouncy ball, and Ririka sat in it gratefully.

"Soooooo," Benkei said after a few moments. "I would ask you what you think of my little place, but that's, like, a total procrastinator move. Anyway. When I got in today, this came in the post."

He took another spoonful of his ice cream, then reached into a drawer and pulled out a large brown envelope. It looked somewhat battered around the edges, the writing on it somewhat smudged. But it was clearly Benkei's name and the Groove N' Slide address, and to Ririka's surprise, she recognised the handwriting.

"You're correct," she said. "It is Tsukiko-san's handwriting. And look, that postmark, it was posted yesterday, express delivery."

Benkei leaned over, frowning exaggeratedly at the envelope.

"But why would she send something to me?"

"I don't know," Ririka said honestly. "But since I'm here now, we should find out what she's sent to you."

Benkei took a deep breath and tore open the envelope. He then turned it upside down, and papers flew out everywhere, skimming the table, some falling off. Ririka caught sight of names: Nazuna Kurihara, Dax Haley, Silas Jon Finsen-

-wait.

She bent down to gather up the ones that had fallen to the floor, then arranged them out side by side. Benkei seemed to have the same idea, but he was the one who realised:

"Hey, they're all lists!"

And Ririka looked at the sheets properly, and found out that yes, they were. One of them read:

Nazuna Kurihara

Yori Miyagi

Silas Jon Finsen

Ae-ra Park

Luca Fontana

Yuzuho Fujiwara

Ottillie Nylund

Seren Nishiya

Setsuna Ushiroku

Fukue Amari

Dax Haley

Tsubame Suwasaka

Naruhito Ono

Ena Setsushi

Kaida Adachi

Junpei Ito

Immediately, she recalled the differences between the list she had found and this one, since there were not that many. She then looked to another one, which read:

Kaida Adachi

Silas Jon Finsen

Ae-ra Park

Luca Fontana

Yori Miyagi

Seren Nishiya

Chiara Kai

Setsuna Ushiroku

Fukue Amari

Kakeru Yanai

Tsubame Suwasaka

Junpei Ito

Ena Setsushi

Yuuto Oshiro

Kagura Nabenashi

Nazuna Kurihara

And then the third one, which was completely different again:

Inori Izawa

Yori Miyagi

Dax Haley

Ae-ra Park

Luca Fontana

Yuzuho Fujiwara

Ottillie Nylund OR Seren Nishiya

Kakeru Yanai

Setsuna Ushiroku

Fukue Amari

Nazuna Kurihara

Iori Asano

Naruhito Ono

Ena Setsushi

Kaida Adachi

Tsubame Suwasaka

She blinked at the choice between Ottillie and Seren on the list, since this was the first of the lists that had such an option. Just to be sure, she checked one more:

Dax Haley

Silas Jon Finsen

Ae-ra Park

Luca Fontana

Yuzuho Fujiwara

Yuuto Oshiro

Chiara Kai OR Kakeru Yanai

Yori Miyagi

Setsuna Ushiroku

Seren Nishiya OR Ottillie Nylund

Nazuna Kurihara

Naruhito Ono

Junpei Ito

Ena Setsushi

Kaida Adachi

Kagura Nabenashi

What does this all mean? Ririka wondered. Why are there so many of these lists? She re-arranged a few more, mentally noting the names that kept cropping up, and the ones that only appeared once or twice. It didn't escape her that none of the lists fully matched the actual line-up of kidnapped students. In fact, not a single one as far as she could see even contained all the exact sixteen in the same list.

"Oh, looks like some of these had sticky notes on them!" Benkei exclaimed, holding up a wad of brightly coloured rectangles. "Unfortunately, they seem to have fallen off…."

"What do they say?"

"Um….so this one says 'do NOT show to the Motowaris under any circumstances' and this one says 'this one is fine to show instead' oh and…uh, actually a few say that. Look."

Benkei laid them out for Ririka to see, before reading the next ones:

"'please advise on choices' , 'Contrary to previous version containing the daughter, it is fine to show the Izawas this one...' Hey, what the hell?"

Benkei dropped the wad of remaining sticky notes and clutched his hands dramatically to his chest, as though they burned him. Looking pale, he stammered out:

"Man, that's creepy like, what in the…? Does any of this make sense to you?"

"I mean, it would if we knew which note had been stuck to which list, though I feel as if I could make reasonable guesses. But was there a note or anything? To explain all of this?"

Benkei blinked.

"I'm….I'm not too sure. Um…."

Benkei riffled through the remaining papers-just how many versions of this list are there, Ririka wondered-until his hands stilled and his eyes grew wide. He appeared to be reading something with great concentration, any remaining colour in his face slowly seeping away.

After a few moments, he let out a shaky breath and handed it over. Hands trembling, Ririka accepted the sheet of paper, and quietly read it:

Sorry for dropping this on you, Ben. But all you need to do is give this to the police. If it's safe, I'll tell them the full story myself but. Know this. I didn't follow their demands, at least not once I started to realise something was wrong. I left so I didn't have to follow their demands. I just. I was. I didn't want to believe it would turn out like this.

It's fine if you don't believe me. Shinji and Nanako Motowari did not and I don't blame them. Hopefully if they find me they'll let me explain first this time. But give this to the police please. Please.

The handwriting was shaky, in some places looking as if the pen had been pressed too hard into the paper, and it had been smudged in other places. There were also a few drops of blood on the page, and where it had dropped on the words she'd written, Tsukiko had clearly decided to cross them out and write again above or below, sometimes having to squeeze the words into a small space. Ririka reread the note a couple of times, not knowing what to say.

What was happening, Tsukiko-san? What was happening all of that time for me not to have noticed it, right under my nose? What is all of this? Why is all of this happening?

The sound of an incredibly loud, sugary-sounding pop song blaring made Ririka almost jump out of her chair and almost knock over her ice cream while she was at it. She managed to grab it just in time and clutched it tightly as she watched Benkei search through his drawers and the various containers on his desk in search of his phone.

As the song went on, she realised that the song was one from the band Benkei had once been a part of. She didn't remember what it was called, but remembered that her younger siblings had been fans. More accurately, she remembered times when she was cooking them dinner and had been trying to listen to revision tapes at the same time, only to be stymied by one or the other turning up the volume on the radio when the band's songs came on. Too often, the situation had devolved into arguments, and though she had nothing against Benkei's old band (even if the music was never her type, anyway), she couldn't listen to anything remotely similar without feeling bitter about it.

As it was, she was relieved when Benkei finally located his phone and, after frowning quizzically at the screen, answered the call.

"Hey, hey, hey! Benkei Utada here, what's up?"

Benkei's frown deepened and then, in a more cautious tone, he asked:

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Another pause, and then:

"Kiko?"

Ririka had started to eat some more of her ice cream, but abruptly stopped, sitting up straighter. Benkei didn't pay any attention to her, instead babbling:

"Kiko? What's happened? I got your, you know, what you sent me and I don't understand-huh? Ichi? Yeah, Ichi's totally sound, man. Totally. Why're you asking about Ichi, I didn't realise you knew him-oh, wait, has he found you? Yeah, talk to him, honestly, he'll sort it. But anyway, Kiko, can't you tell me what all this freaky stuff is about and-"

Benkei blinked rapidly, then moved the phone away from his ear and stared at it as though it had personally attacked him.

"She hung up." He said, wounded.

"What was that?" Ririka demanded. "What did she say? Did she explain anything?"

Benkei simply shook his head. He stared at his phone for another moment, then ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright. You know what? Let's call the police."

As Shouichi and Yuuto approached Hope's Peak, he spotted Ottillie Nylund ahead of them, striding through the gates in a way that struck Shouichi as being rather angry. Of course, by the time they'd got to the gate themselves, Ottillie was out of sight. Instead, Clio was there, and she noticed them immediately, her eyes widening.

"Oshiro-sempai!" she exclaimed. "You're…I mean, where did you go?"

"What are you doing out?" Yuuto asked brusquely.

"Oh! I was at the café," Clio gestured towards the café building, behind her. "I helped with closing. But what about you? I would have thought that you were in Setsushi-sempai's room."

Her eyes flicked uncertainly to Shouichi, who nodded calmly at her, even as he wondered about her knowledge of this afternoon's root causes.

"He's just told me what happened the night Ena disappeared. I mean, how those fuckers got her. It was that secretary."

Clio frowned.

"It was….Yamaguchi-san?"

Yuuto huffed.

"Yes, it was! Are you really that fucking surprised, that-"

He cut himself off abruptly, narrowing his eyes at Shouichi. Shouichi didn't give away any reaction, even though this, too, made him wonder. Of course, now was not the time nor the place to question either of them about it.

"Whatever," he scoffed. "I'll tell you about it inside, I guess. You'll need to tell Ito, too. Hey, that's not gonna cause any shit, is it? I figure you're not informing him properly, since he isn't next of fucking kin or anything. But still."

Shouichi nodded.

"Since Ono-kun's family will have been informed by now, I don't see an issue with sharing the news with other close friends of his. I assume you are talking about Junpei Ito-kun?"

"He is, yeah." Clio said.

"Alright then. You can inform him, but of course it would be best if this information was not spread around further than needed."

Yuuto rolled his eyes at that, but then sighed. He looked around him, seemingly disoriented. Clio lightly touched his arm.

"Shall we go back to Setsushi-sempai's room? Or…maybe my room, instead?"

"I…."

Yuuto turned around in a half circle, before stopping, eyes fixed on the library. He glowered in that direction for a few moments, before abruptly saying:

"No. Let's go there."

To Shouichi's surprise, Yuuto did not point to the library, but to a point beyond that.

"You want to go to the workshops?" Clio asked, face scrunched up in confusion.

"No," Yuuto said with irritation. "Just…over there. The vending machines."

Ah. Shouichi realised where Yuuto was going.

"Oshiro-kun, will you be alright?"

Yuuto turned and frowned quizzically, before shrugging heavily. He then turned and started walking away, seemingly with little regard for anyone else. However, Shouichi noticed that he walked slow enough for Clio to catch up, given she was on crutches. He started to go back to the gate, but as he did, he could still hear some of their conversation.

"Oshiro-sempai, did you see Detective Kuroki?"

"No. Why?"

"He was here earlier. Someone, one of the advisors, they kicked him out though. But just before you came, he was talking to Nylund-sempai just outside the gates. I didn't get all of what they were saying, though, but it was strange…I mean, what does Italy have to do with anything?"

At that point, Clio and Yuuto were out of earshot. Shouichi stopped and turned, and they were out of eyesight, too. Still, he found himself watching the direction in which they had presumably gone, until his phone started to vibrate in his pocket.


Christ in a bucket, there were a LOT of moving parts to this chapter, it felt like. Sometimes I question my decision to keep the number of POVs in the main story restricted to just the three, even though generally speaking I know it was the way to go. In any case, I reckon this chapter came out okay despite that so, yeah, hope you all enjoy it!