Chapter 2

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Intermission - a text file by a magazine writer.

Everyone was in a slight panic when Yukihiro Kisa arrived to the editorial department. However, we were particularly more shocked with the scoop he brought back the day before rather than his outward appearance. He had managed to accomplish what everyone considered to be an impossible feat in less than a day.

Naturally, coincidence and luck also played a factor. Nonetheless, he terrified us. Even though he should be called a hero for overcoming a trial, we looked at him with fright instead of showering him with praise.

Becoming envious of someone who was overly competent was just how the world worked. If Yukihiro Kisa had been any other ordinary, capable newcomer, he would probably be both praised and subjected to hatred alike behind his back. However, in Yukihiro Kisa’s case, he was quite irregular to turn our envy towards. We did not intend to discriminate against him for his outward appearance. And yet we could not help but fear retribution when standing before his anomalous presence.

No one knew who Yukihiro Kisa was at that point. But at the very least, he had not committed a single villainous act. If I could list his actions under bullet points, he would come across as someone simple and down-to-earth. And yet the meaning of the word ‘simple’ was entirely lost from what his outward appearance indicated. The man himself was aware of that fact, and so he may have sedulously tried to prove himself by making outstanding feats.

If that was the case, then did the information he had obtained link to the truth? The answer was no. Unfortunately, the interview in the voice recorder Yukihiro Kisa took did not qualify enough to be put on the magazine’s opening page as an exclusive story.

The reason why was extremely simple. While sadly it would be another ten days before the convenience store employee would regain consciousness, the Bandaged Man incident itself - which should have been well forgotten - had resurfaced and spread like wildfire throughout the press. Other magazines besides our own under major publishing companies scrambled to get any information on the story, and ruckus swept over Japan.

No, let me amend that statement. Yukihiro Kisa would have managed to pull through. He was not someone who could be taken down so easily. But I can say with absolute certainty that Rui Otonobe’s life was in peril. Although in her case, she had crossed over plenty of unsteady bridges up until now, so danger could very well be a daily occurrence for her.

Going off how she behaved when she initially met Kisa to her interactions with him at the end of the day, Rui Otonobe would seem like a normal person if not a bit strict. But in truth, it would also be accurate to say that for a moment the woman known as Rui Otonobe was no one special - someone who just wanted to act bigger than she was. However, if I can express my own opinion, I would say aside from their outward appearances she is much more abnormal than Kisa. I say this as not only did she have an atypical personality, when tackling this case she had taken a step towards death itself.

My takeaway is this: we should look at Yukihiro Kisa with sympathy as he had gotten pulled into her self-destructive life.

Then again, I am unsure if he actually prefers that lifestyle.

Chapter 2

Somewhere in the city late at night.

There was a private room located on the second floor of a night club. Ill-bred looking men were stationed around the room’s entrance, engendering an ostentatious atmosphere. As the heavy bass shook the walls rhythmically from the dance hall, there was a menacing voice of a young man that boomed throughout the room.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

A man sunk into the sofa, shaking his head to and fro. His hair was cut short on the sides, and the remaining spot of hair from atop his head was long dreadlocks. Tribal tattoos were on his face and neck, and presumably there were more hidden underneath his clothes as well.

The man’s attention was focused on a smartphone in his hand. A news website was displayed on the older cellular device. On one of the articles, there was a passage that announced the presumed Bandaged Man’s arrest.

“So how did this blockhead get himself caught again? I believe you all said he was someone who could get the job done.”

“Ah, yes, we did,” a host-like man replied, his eyes trained on the ground beneath him. He was kneeling on the ground and trembled as he spoke, “but there’s nothing to worry about, Nuimura-san. In the article, it said he claimed he was just a copycat. And it looks like the police also announced that to be the case…”

The man forced a smile, but he was promptly cut off, unable to finish his excuse. The man named Nuimura stood up from the sofa and slapped his right hand over the man’s mouth.

“Are you just going to swallow the entire story in article at face value?”

“Ah...arghh-gah…”

The host was unable to speak with the bottom half of his face covered.

“Then how about you swallow this!”

The man then pressed the smartphone between his right hand and thrust it into the host’s mouth.

“Gah! Arghh!”

The smartphone had pressed against the host’s uvula, causing the man to began coughing reflexively to force it out. However, Nuimura was able to keep the man pinned with his bare strength and slammed the man’s head against the floor. When he removed his right hand, the unconscious host spat out the smartphone.

After Nuimura wiped his hand dry on the other man’s clothes, he addressed the men standing near the door, “the police aren’t idiots either. It was the same tactic we used before. They’ll realize soon enough he’s not some mere copy-cat.”

Nuimura clicked his tongue before continuing, “this could break out elsewhere, so fix this mess before that happens.”

He smashed the spit-covered smartphone underneath his foot with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

“Persuaded by a passerby? What bullshit.”

Nuimura then ordered his men present in the room, not even attempting to conceal his blood lust:

“Figure out what happened to that simpleton. We’ll discuss our next move after that.”

・

The next day at a rental unit in the Shinjuku ward.

Rui Otonobe’s residence was a single-room apartment located in Shinjuku. The rental unit could be categorized as high class for one person to live in, but to Otonobe her current room felt much more like a place to crash at than a proper dwelling.

She cleaned up after herself, putting away her clothes and commodities, yet she also had towers of books, magazines and newspapers piled up in stacks around the apartment, only leaving space on her bed, desk and a path between those two objects.

And inside this room, there was a man’s shrill voice:

‘It wasn’t me! I swear! Who are you!? Are you from the Asuki Group? Or the Awakusu Group!? I was just following orders from above! Please let me go!’

Otonobe could imagine the man had been crying based off his pleading tone.

The sound was coming from Otonobe’s laptop. She had copied the recording Kisa took on his voice recorder onto her USB memory and was replaying the audio. As she had expected, the contents greatly diverged from the term ‘interview.’

She heard Kisa’s bone-chilling voice between the man’s weeping:

‘...Would you be so kind as to tell me who is above?’

‘It was Nuimura-san! You know ‘im, right!? You can pin this all on him! You should already know about this, right!? We’ve never done anything against any organizations like yours! I swear it!’

‘...Why do you wear those bandages?’

‘Obviously to hide my face!’

‘...I would like to ask you about the other nine cases.’

‘Let me go! Ow, argh...arrgh! It’s going to break! It’s seriously going to snap! I dunno know, alright! This was my first time doing it today! All the other nine robberies were done by someone else, so ask Nuimura-san about them!’

‘...Are you saying someone else had stabbed the convenience store worker?’

‘Like I said! It wasn’t me! Are you a friend of that employee!? Th-that was probably an accident! Go up to Nuimura-san and talk to him about it!’

The so-called ‘Bandaged Man’ ranted for a while longer. He seemed to have been under the assumption that Kisa was a member of a gang, so what was meant to be an interview completely turned into a full on interrogation.

“This certainly is different than what the police made a statement about.”

This information uncovered a clear discrepancy with the culprit’s testimony, where he claimed he was ‘a mere copycat’ to the police. It was clear even at this stage that there was more going on, but as the conversation progressed the man was unable to speak cohesively out of fear. From what Otonobe could piece out from his rambling, there seemed to be many more people involved than she initially imagined.

If she were to take the man’s testimony as fact, then the robbery he committed at the club was a charade they had devised with the management in order to claim insurance. Yet the robbery committed at the convenience store was probably legitimate as the incident could not be passed off as an attempt to cover the other cases. Furthermore, there were casualties from this particular one.

But what if there was a group of robbers who could be in league with other clubs? Based off the man’s claim, this was unlikely the work of a gang. But it also seemed plausible that this Nuimura was in a position to negotiate with organizations of that nature. It could be a lesser organized crime group on the way to becoming a proper gang, commonly referred to as a ‘hangure.’

Regardless whether they should submit this evidence to the police or they use it for their own exclusive scoop, her team would have to collect much more evidence. Otonobe had ordered one of the writers who was in charge of researching gang affairs to look into Nuimura, however, she would not receive any reports for a couple days as long as solid leads elude them.

Otonobe paused the audio before stretching languidly in her chair.

“Hm...nngh.”

She grunted without a hint of unease as her muscles cracked and popped. The sound was quite unfitting for a woman in her mid-twenties, which she would never let anyone in the editorial department hear.

Proofreading had finished the other day, so more than half of the editors had the day off.

Otonobe wore only a plain T-shirt and jersey pants over her undergarments and had unfashionable glasses on. She always wore proper, tight-fitted clothing to work and put in contacts instead of glasses, so no one would recognize her dressed like this at first glance. Her casual attire when she was off-work was a side of her which she would never let anyone see in the company.

She reclined back lazily and stared at the ceiling overhead, thinking of the man who had brought her this extraordinary, outrageous scoop.

Yukihiro Kisa. Just who is he?

When he had come into the editorial department on his first day at work, she had immediately went straight to the personnel department. She questioned them as to why an untrained person was sent in as someone ready for the workforce. However, all that the head of the personnel department provided her was that they did not know. He was also aware that Otonobe’s mother was a stockholder for the company and was so flustered when he told her he truly had no idea that she knew he could not be lying. He had told her that the president was personally involved, but said president was off tomorrow, so Otonobe was unable to contact him.

Maybe he was directly sent in by the president to take me down?

Or maybe someone had a grudge against my family?

Numerous ideas ran through her mind, but they were all mere speculation.

However, what she did know was that as a human being he was abnormal for a couple reasons. And this was not strictly for his outward appearance. Otonobe did not view people so shallowly as to call him abnormal for his threatening outward appearance or the scar that covered his face. But she could only label him as abnormal given his personality and mannerisms. Although she was openly high-handed with him when she greeted him, Kisa dared to call her a ‘nice person’ and even expressed words of thanks afterwards. A normal person would either rage or cower after taking frequent provocations as she dished out. Otonobe had partially intended to feel him out at first, but when he had suddenly made the wild claim that she was a ‘good person’ she got angry.

Yet Kisa remained completely unperturbed, simply consenting to and fulfilling her unreasonable demands.

The most prominent question was how he managed to capture the Bandaged Man before the police could. Otonobe naturally questioned him about this, but his answer was far too straight-forward:

‘I looked at the previous cases to deduce how often and where they were likely to occur...and so I searched for clubs and convenient stores that had a probability of being attacked.’

Among the possibilities he considered, he strayed from the areas the police were watching and narrowed it down to a few spots, staying on the watch in places that had a high chance of being used as an escape route.

‘Based off the other cases in the past, I assumed they would similarly either run on foot or use a bicycle to escape. And just as the report listed, a man wearing a black jacket with bandages wrapped around his face was running away from there.’

The writers stared at him skeptically when they heard he thoroughly investigated into all the previous incidents in just a half a day. However, no one was able to tease him or reject his claims when they stared into his stern face.

‘I was fortunate to have caught him on the first day, but it was my error to have conflicting results from my interview with him and the testimonial he gave to the police. Although, even if an organization was behind the robbery cases, I assume they will be more cautious moving forward and will not utilize the same methods again.’

His face then turned dead serious, and he murmured in a near hum, ‘perhaps it would have been better if I had attempted to seize a kappa creature after all.’

The comment was phrased as a joke, yet no one had laughed.

Otonobe slipped a smile as she recalled yesterday’s exchange. Unlike everyone else who were unable to smile out of fear, she barely held back the eruption of laughter from escaping her.

How interesting. I don’t know what his objective is, but I’m sure I can use him to my advantage. Even if he intends to crush me, I’ll thwart his plans and come out on top.

And in truth, she could use his intimidating appearance to help carry out interviews and negotiations. Furthermore, that particular characteristic would make him good as a normal businessman for his first time working in an office. He did not have much hands-on experience, but he would be trained eventually.

Otonobe stood up from her chair as she schemed and looked at her itinerary on the calendar. In the box for today’s date read: P from 12 o’clock. The clock beside the calendar indicated it was currently 8:30. Otonobe exhaled a sigh before stretching again on her feet. She felt the blood circulate through her muscles as she stretched her back and waist. She unknowingly made a sound like she did earlier, and immediately after she did her smartphone on her desk started vibrating. On its screen read: ‘incoming call: Mother Miharu.’

Otonobe sighed once more when she saw who it was and touched the screen to accept the call, teeth lightly biting into her lips as she did so.

“Hello. This is Rui.”

An overly bright voice came through from the speaker, ‘Oh! Oh hi, Rui-chan! Have you been doing well? Seems like you’ve been busy lately. I hope you haven’t put too much strain on your body. You’ve been drinking the green drinks and vegetable juice I’ve sent you, right?’

“Yes, I have been alright. Likewise, I am glad to hear you are so lively this earlier in the morning.” Otonobe did not like to stand on ceremony, though she still responded to her in a gentle voice.

The woman on the other line continued excitedly, ‘Why, of course I am! It’s all because of the green drinks and vegetable juice I’ve been taking! Oh, and the natto too. Definitely!’

Rui Otonobe’s mother, Miharu Otonobe, was the youngest daughter of a wealthy family that had been around for generations. She also had profound talent and was able to start her own brand for women’s clothes and jewelry as a fashion designer, earning her wages by herself. Not allowing herself to be outdone by her parents, the Otonobe household had continued to increase their own assets.

And yet the items she had mentioned were natto that fly off the shelves at local supermarkets after being advertised on TV or kitchen tools you could find at 100 yen stores - completely unfitting for a spoiled rich individual.

‘And gosh, those utensils are so good. They cut so clean and make preparing kiwis so simple!’

“Really? You’ll have to show me sometime.”

‘Oh? Are you interested in it? Should I buy one and send it to you?’

Otonobe could practically tell her eyes were brimming with excitement even over the phone and politely declined, “No, you don’t have to. I live on my own. Besides, I don’t eat much kiwi.”

‘Oh really? Kiwis are good for you, you know? They say they’re antioxidants!’

“That’s because they’re rich in vitamin C.”

Rui Otonobe handled the conversation appropriately, making sure to never be unkind. Rui did not dislike Miharu’s overabundant, child-like curiosity at age fifty as a general human being. However, she did not like how immature she would behave at her age as a family member.

It could be said Otonobe was being nice by holding back her annoyance to appease the other, but in her case her bitterness was a crucial factor in determining her leverage. She did not want to have a long, serious conversation with her mother, aware of her black-heartedness and knowing the significance of her being would be rejected should it come to light. She was also aware she was still bitter towards Kisa for calling her a good person the day before.

“So what did you call me for today, mother? Were you calling about the party this evening?”

‘Why yes! You guessed right, Rui-chan! I can’t make it today, so tell mister Naramori hi for me when you see him. I’ll have someone come get you at your apartment around 11, so you can take that ride to get there. And make sure to introduce yourself to the driver, okay?”

“Thank you for your consideration.”

After replying with a faint chuckle, Otonobe said a few final words and ended the call.

“...”

Otonobe heaved a sigh before glancing at the clock again. The hand on the clock was almost at 9. Otonobe was astonished at how they had talked for nearly thirty minutes as she went to open the refrigerator to see what was inside.

“Shoot.”

She ran out of the nutrient supplementary jelly drink she always had for breakfast. She was going to go buy some in the evening the other day, but she got distracted from the voice recorder Kisa had brought her. She put a light jersey over her T-shirt and got her sandals on before heading out of her apartment.

“Haa, ah…”

Otonobe stifled a yawn as she got off the elevator.

The convenience store was only a few minutes away from her apartment, so she did not particularly care to go in her nightwear. She did not tell anyone from work where she lived, and even if someone she knew had seen her they would not notice as she had glasses on and wore casual attire.

She rubbed her eyes while simultaneously adjusting her glasses and smacked her cheeks to make sure she was fully awake, confirming that the events from the other day were not a dream.

Now then. Tomorrow will be a deciding factor as to what I’ll do with Kisa.

The president would return tomorrow. Otonobe would need to know who he was and what his objective was in order to make Kisa her pawn. While she did not mind doing the digging, she could not have him look into her background.

She could never let him find any weakness of hers. She had to utilize the carrot and stick method and steadily get the notion in his head that she was the superior - that she was absolute.

Otonobe walked out of the apartment complex as she considered these wicked thoughts. But just as she took a step outside the complex’s doors, she sensed a looming shadow come overhead. Otonobe looked up, thinking something had blocked the sun, only to see a man standing there, his back blocking the high sun.

The silhouette promptly bowed, “...good morning, Chief Otonobe.”

His face remained unchanged since the day before, and his expression was as stiff as ever.

“...Wha-?”

For a moment, Otonobe was unable to process what was going on and froze both physically and mentally.

The dress shirt he wore had a different pattern, but aside from that the man in the white suit was the same person Otonobe saw yesterday. The man - Yukihiro Kisa - cocked his head at the dumbfounded Otonobe and asked, “we seem to be quite ahead of schedule, but would you like to leave now?”

He glanced over towards a vehicle left at the visitor’s parking space.

“Go...Where exactly?”

“Your mother requested me to drive you to the Altare Hotel in Nagata City at noon.”

Otonobe pieced together the numerous fragments of information thrown at her and arrived at an answer: the man in front of her right now was her driver for today. Otonobe still had plenty of unanswered questions, but her situation fully dawned on her.

At long last, she gave a shriek.

・

Two hours later in the car.

While the car was a passenger vehicle, it was just as spacious as a van would be. Otonobe sat in the passenger’s seat with a displeased expression and continuously glanced around the car. It felt like a high quality vehicle, but Otonobe was unfamiliar with automobiles so she could not guess what brand it was. The vehicle had a high roof and more legroom than other vehicles she had been in before, yet she still felt uneasy just by looking at the man sitting in the driver’s seat.

Otonobe turned to Kisa, whose head was grazing the roof of the car as he drove, and asked, “so you have a license?”

“Yes, several,” Kisa answered as he turned the wheel.

Otonobe frowned. “Several? What do you mean by several? What other ones do you have besides the standard license?”

“I have one for large sized vehicles and large motorcycles, one for small ships and water scooters, one for mobile cranes, and one for boiler equipment as a secondary license. I am also considering in obtaining a license for private helicopters someday, if I have room in my budget to allow it.”

“Doesn’t it cost about 3,000,000 yen for a private helicopter?”

“It does. I do not want to burden my family with the expenses, so I am saving up for it.”

Otonobe was unsure how much of this was a joke, so she decided to change the topic all together.

“...How did you tell it was me at first glance today?”

“? I just saw you yesterday,” Kisa expressed, confused.

Otonobe merely looked at herself in the window’s reflection while resting her chin in her hand in response. It was the afternoon, so she could barely make out her reflection in the glass, but she relaxed once she was able to confirm her appearance was a complete transformation from earlier.

She had exchanged her contacts with glasses and changed into an entire new outfit. She was dressed more classy than her usual work clothes, but she wore a more ceremonial dress than the usual formal one. In short, what she was wearing right now was her best going-out attire for special events.

It took her a long time to get ready as she had to shower and stylize her hair all at once, but her driver Kisa, who had arrived two hours beforehand, waited patiently for her in the car the whole time.

Yukihiro Kisa. Through unexpected means, Otonobe had discovered why he came to her department. The person who sent this intimidating, straight-laced man was none other than her mother Miharu, whom she had spoken to over the phone just earlier today.

“So you waited for me outside the doors this whole time?”

“I did not. I was waiting beside the car but went to greet you when I saw you walk out.”

“I didn’t notice at all…”

Otonobe remembered she did not notice him because she was fully indulged in plans on how she could make Kisa her pawn, so she sidestepped the topic.

“How do you know my mother?”

Kisa did not show a hint of disapproval for her question and answered politely, “my mother and yours are apparently well acquainted.”

“Really now?”

Her mother had an irregularly large amount of friends, so naturally Otonobe could not have known. At the very least she had no recollection of the unique surname Kisa, and as such she figured the connection was unknown to her.

“So she had you come to my work and have you be my personal driver?”

“Your mother asked me about my occupation when I met her for the first time the other day. When I told her I was unemployed, she referred me to Iibane Publications.”

“...When you first met her?”

“Yes. While I am unsure of the purpose, I know she did send a letter of recommendation to your division. And last night she called me with the request for today as well.”

Otonobe fell silent. She pondered to herself why her riotous mother would send a man she had only met once to work directly under her daughter - especially considering how she had also arranged for him to be her private driver. It was overly suspicious.

Otonobe would like to call her mother and question her right here and now, but with Kisa sitting beside her she was unable at the moment. She decided to complain to her after the party and resumed her conversation with Kisa instead, asking, “how come you didn’t mention this the other day or the day before yesterday?”

“I thought it would be impolite to discuss internal matters in front of everyone. If my course of action was incorrect, then I apologize profusely for my error in judgement.”

“...It’s fine. You weren’t wrong in your assumption.”

Otonobe could not let her workers know her weakness - that she was outmatched when it came to her mother. Although she was stressed over her predicament, she was grateful for Kisa’s conscientious personality.

“I just have one thing to stress to you as your superior.”

“What is it?”

“Forget what you saw earlier.”

“?”

Seeing how Kisa looked generally confused as to ‘what he saw,’ a faint blush formed on Otonobe’s face.

“I’m referring to the me you saw wearing glasses and a jersey earlier. If you say a word of this to anyone in the editorial department, I will straight-up fire you.”

Despite his superior using her power to threaten him, Kisa nodded in understanding.

“I see now. Understood.” He then added an unnecessary comment, “but I must say, I do think it suited you well.”

“...Are you making fun of me?”

“Not at all. You look nice in both the work clothes you wore yesterday and the outfit you are wearing right now.”

“Are you saying this as someone with an eye for beauty? ...Or do you just lack standards?” Otonobe asked exasperated, not perceiving Kisa’s comment as flattery.

Kisa responded matter-of-factly, “if I am allowed to be honest, I am quite jealous how well you can look in nearly any outfit - let it be work clothes or casual attire.”

“...”

“It is a challenge for me to find clothes due to my height.”

Sensing self-deprecatory behind Kisa’s words, anger bubbled up inside of Otonobe.

“Regardless, asking me if we should head over while I was in a jersey is unacceptable. The only people who can get away with wearing that are authors or mangaka who show up for the publication company’s end-of-year parties.”

Otonobe scoffed as though she had seen this happen many times over.

Kisa asked in response, “then what sort of event is taking place today?”

“No one told you?”

“No. I was only provided the time and place.”

“Jeez, what was my mother thinking…?” After muttering a complaint to herself, she refocused to the topic at hand, “in short, it’s a fund-raising party for politicians. Do you know of Raizou Naramori?”

“I do.”

“Oh? You do? That’s a bit of a relief. You have enough common sense to know the name of an experienced big-shot politician in the ministry.”

“You give me far too much credit,” Kisa denied with a solemn tone, but Otonobe no longer felt intimidated by his demeanor, unlike yesterday.

Now that she knew her mother sent him, she felt there was no reason to keep fearing him any longer. She would just need to interrogate her mother and find out what her intentions were behind hiring him.

She put those thoughts away for now and continued her explanation about the party: “my mother has been close friends with mister Naramori and his family since she was little. She is always getting invited to these parties. But she dislikes uptight environments, so she usually gives me a pass to the party instead.”

“I see.”

“You may think a party for politicians is pretty boring, but there’s actually a surprisingly wide variety of people there who can be intriguing. And I also use the opportunity to find a scoop for work. At some point, you should also…”

Otonobe trailed off and looked at Kisa in the driver’s seat once more. He wore a white suit just like yesterday. Although it was conspicuous, his outfit would pass the dress code.

“Oh. On second thought, that can work.”

Otonobe smirked like a child struck with a devious idea.

“Join me. I’ll pay for it. Consider this to be your training course.”

“...Me?”

“So the interesting thing about this fundraising party is that anyone can join as long as they buy a pass. Visitors would help ‘fundraise’ as each pass costs 20,000 yen. There are plenty of people who buy one simply because they want to see celebrities they see on TV up close.”

“But would it not cause trouble for you if I accompany you?”

Kisa was unexpectedly reluctant. Otonobe shook her head.

“It’s fine. Like I said, I go partially to collect information anyway.” She then stated bluntly out of self-interest, “at the very least if you’re with me when I talk to those big-shots, they won’t try anything funny.”

“However given my appearance, my being there will tarnish your reputation.”

Apparently Kisa was fully aware that he outwardly did not look like an honest person.

Otonobe found this attribute to him to work in her favor solely for that reason, but to avoid coming across as condescending she smiled softly at him, “a newcomer like you doesn’t have to worry about that.”

She then added, slipping a hint of her true thoughts within:

“Besides, my reputation has been at its worst a long time ago anyway.”

・

In an empty warehouse somewhere in the city.

There was a standard-looking warehouse - no abnormalities to it at all. However, there was one particularity that had come about within the area.

Bright yellow barrier tape was hung around the entrance, and inside the building blue vinyl sheets were spread out on the ground. There were a few police cars and a couple of vehicles for the forensics team were parked on the nearby roads.

There were not many curious onlookers in the vicinity, likely because the site was located far away from the residential area, leaving only the police and related officials rushing around the premises of the facility.

While the forensics team were working inside the warehouse, a pair of police detectives who arrived at the scene first stood in front of the blue sheets.

“This has to be classified as a murder,” a young detective - possibly a new recruit - commented.

The man standing beside him said in response, “we cannot say definitively until the forensic results come in. But if they say this was suicide, then we might as well claim all the dead from war were cases of suicide too.”

“Kuzuhara-san, as your team was one of the first dispatched, did you get to see the crime scene already?”

“Only a little bit from the entrance. Those patrol ducks that discovered the body here brought me up to speed on the situation before pulling out.”

The police detective with graying hair - Soujun Kuzuhara - said as he gazed up at the disturbingly clear sky, “as it is now, we have to wait for forensics to finish.”

As shown in detective dramas, they could not carelessly step into the crime scene like the forensics team were working. There would be more leeway if it was a case of robbery or trespassing, but for murder cases crucial evidence were viable to be lost with just a foot step inside.

Kuzuhara made a sour expression as he spoke to the young detective.

“The press is going to go nuts over this.”

“? What happened?”

The younger detective had fearfully asked, seeing how his elder spoke in a manner unlike himself.

“I only briefly got to see inside, but what I could make out was a message written in blood on the wall next to the body.”

“In blood?”

“We’ll be able to tell whose it was after the autopsy, but that’s beside the point...what do you think was written on there?”

“Something akin to a dying message?”

The younger detective answered with the first idea that came to mind, but Kuzuhara minutely shook his head in response.

“I imagine the culprit had written it. But here’s the catch…”

Kuzuhara frowned slightly, and as he recalled the bloody message he stated in annoyance:

“They wrote, ‘I’m innocent.’”

・

Somewhere in Chiyoda Prefecture.

The hotel Altare was located a few minutes away on foot from the Nagata City Train Station. It was a high class brand that had establishments in Ikebukuro and Osaka as well, but it acted much more closer to a parliament than a hotel and frequently held rallies for politicians and press conferences in its assembly hall. Likewise, this facility met the necessities for today’s event, allowing the grand politician - Raizou Naramori - to hold a fundraising party here.

The banquet hall felt considerably more spacious than any elementary school gymnasium. Luxurious and rich scented food was laid out on the pure white clothed tables, and with the illumination from the magnificent chandelier overhead, the food display was kept within the edges of everyone’s view, enticing their appetite.

At the center table a live ice sculpting performance was in session. A young male of mixed blood with slanted eyes and white skin was currently refining the details of his ice sculpture, which was a woman with angelic wings. Her pose and certain features on her body looked manga-isc, but no one watching the exquisite work particularly minded. And it also helped alleviate the boredom for those who were uninterested in the long greetings with the politicians taking place at the same time.

“We have written an article about that person carving the ice for our magazine before. His name is Yumasaki.”

Off in a corner of the assembly hall, Otonobe spoke to Kisa standing behind her, “he’s apparently very good at making sculptures of anime characters, so we interviewed him for our special feature on subcultures at the time. But it looks like he can sculpt more standard ones comparatively well too.”

“I find him to have immense talent,” Kisa replied as he looked at the activity around them.

Now that the politicians were done with introductions, they had moved onto pleasant talk. There were lavish politicians who were taking photos with each other, while other politicians were leaving the event as soon as introductions concluded. They even caught glimpses of celebrities and commenters from wide variety shows present, giving him the impression that the politician’s personal connections and networking was grand.

“As expected of a party hosted by Naramori-san. There’s plenty of big shots here.”

Otonobe’s focus shifted over to one of the men.

“You see the foreigner with the blond afro wearing a top hat over there? He’s actually not some personality on TV. His name is Max Sandshelt. He’s the manager of the talent agency Jack O’ Lantern. Kozaki deals with him in his jurisdiction, so remember him.”

“I will take note.”

“And that shrewd person in the center is Seiichirou Yokota - a member of the congress. He was arrested for corrupt activities correlated with the Ikebukuro redevelopment plans a few years back, but the fact that he’s back as a politician publicly like this is noteworthy for us.”

“I remember the affair. If my memory serves me right, the incident took place around the same time as the Slasher attacks in Ikebukuro.”

Hearing this, Otonobe was reminded once again that Kisa was not completely aloof and was knowledgeable on these subjects as much as her team.

“Yes, you’re correct,” Otonobe responded as she continued to observe the activity in the assembly hall. “Hmm, let’s see. That person over there is the president of Takaura Construction - Youzou Takaura. He’s a beast in the construction contractor industry, taking on massive projects like the artificial island connected to Sado island.”

The man appeared to be in his mid-sixties. Otonobe smiled faintly as she looked at him, speaking her thoughts about him out loud, partially to herself, “...he’s acting more normal than I expected, smiling as he is. He must be pretty confident to show up to this party.”

“What are you implying, ma’am?”

“Hm...there’s a lot to explain, but I can’t discuss it with you here. After the party’s over, I do plan on getting answers out of him for our magazine.”

“?”

Otonobe had ambiguously answered Kisa’s question before returning her focus to the assembly hall once more. It was fairly packed within the room, but no one except Otonobe stood within Kisa’s vicinity, allowing the two to monopolize one of the round tables despite the buffet set up.

“Look. Mister Naramori has started to make the rounds. He’ll be coming this way shortly.”

Otonobe was looking towards a crowd of people surrounding an elderly man. The man in his seventies was the established politician, Raizou Naramori. He slowly moved through the assembly hall, answering the people’s greetings with a bright smile.

“Naramori is quite the womanizer, so he can’t refuse to take photos with women or take autographs for them when asked...Hey, what’s wrong?”

Otonobe trailed off when she noticed Kisa’s attention was focused on a tall male nearby the stage. Recognizing who the figure was, Otonobe began to speak about him: “oh, that person over there is a scion of the Munakata Group, Tetsuya Munakata.”

The Munakata Group was a conglomerate started up by the recently deceased Ryouma Munakata and could be called a zaibatsu of the modern day. Tetsuya’s father had passed away a few years ago, but his mother was still around and held a lot of power. Due to this, many around him cynically referred to him as a scion. Tetsuya was the eldest son, but he left his younger brothers to manage the business and devoted himself into the political world instead.

“Although he falls short compared to you, he’s still pretty tall and really stands out. Do you feel a sense of affinity towards him?”

“No, I am afraid that is not quite the case…”

“?”

Otonobe cocked her head at Kisa’s evasive reply. However, before she could press him for more details a voice called out to them: “Well look at this! So you really came!”

When the pair looked over, they saw Naramori standing before them. The people tailing behind him took a step back when they caught sight of Kisa.

Naramori had spoken in a youthful manner in contrast to his age as he readjusted his round glasses with both his hands.

“It has been a while, mister Naramori,” Otonobe bowed as she made quick calculations in her head.

Showing that she was acquainted with a huge politician could give her the chance to remind Kisa of his place. This connection should be apparent to anyone regardless of their occupation, especially for a loosely politicized magazine company.

She did not like to use others’ influence and power to her benefit, but she also felt she was not prohibited in using her personal connections to add to her strength on a fundamental level either.

Naramori turned towards her, “oh, aren’t you Otonobe-kun’s daughter? So you came too! You’ve gotten even more beautiful than the last time I’ve seen you!”

“Oh sir, you make the same comment every time… …?”

Immediately following her routine response, it dawned on Otonobe - the exchange just now was a bit off. She had greeted him with ‘it’s been a while,’ and yet Naramori spoke as if he just noticed her. So when he said, ‘so you really came,’ at first, who was he talking to?

She came to know of the answer a moment later. Naramori looked up behind Otonobe and laughed boisterously like a young youth, “I immediately recognized you when I was introducing myself on stage earlier! You’re so huge! You stand out no matter where you’re at!”

“It is a pleasure to see you again, mister Naramori.”

“What?”

Otonobe spun around when she heard Kisa’s response. She watched Kisa bow deeply towards Naramori.

“Thank you for continuously looking after my brother.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I gotta admit; your brother is quite something. Yeah, I try to remain partial to everyone I associate with, but if I were to put him against someone like that corrupted ex-convict Yokota I’d definitely say your brother’s seraphic in comparison, y’know?”

Otonobe’s eyes were wide as she watched the elderly man interact with Kisa as though he was a friend of his grandchild.

The elder turned towards her, “but I must say, I’m rather surprised you two know each other. Ohh, I get it! It must be because of Miharu-san and Masako-san!”

“?”

“Anyway, kick back, relax and enjoy yourselves! And tell your mothers I said hi for me!”

“O-okay.”

Naramori raised his hand in gesture, smiling, before he moved over to the next table. The elderly, candid politician returned to the sea of people nonchalantly.

Otonobe wondered who Masako could be, but with the overflow of questions from earlier she was unsure which pieces of information she should sort through first.

However, before she could, another individual approached them, as though to deliver the final blow. The person was none other than the tall politician they saw near the stage not too long ago, Tetsuya Munakata.

“Yukihiro! What’s going on!? It’s so unusual to see you here!” The man exclaimed, a congenial smile on his face.

Although Naramori was also casual with Kisa, Otonobe was instantly able to perceive from the man’s friendly greeting that two have been well acquainted with each other for a long time.

The man was not as tall as Kisa, but he was well over the average height, nearing 190 centimeters. Locked between the two towering over her, Otonobe felt overwhelmed. However, the oppressive tension dissipated following Kisa’s next sentence:

“It is nice to see you, my dear brother Tetsuya.”

“Come on, stop being so formal! I told you that you can just casually call me your brother, y’know!”

Seeing how Tetsuya smiled and spoke so casually with Kisa, Otonobe felt dizziness wash over her.

Brother?

Whose brother now?

He’s Kisa’s older brother?

Tetsuya looked to be around fifty years old. Although she could not tell Kisa’s age, she felt they were so far apart in age that they were more likely to be father and son rather than brothers.

Kisa spoke to his brother reservedly, “I was simply considering the time and place…”

“Don’t tell me you bought a pass to get in? I could’ve covered you if you had asked.”

Just as Tetsuya finished his sentence, his gaze landed on Otonobe standing next to him.

“And who’s this?”

“This is my superior at work. She’s the Otonobe’s…”

Tetsuya interrupted Kisa’s explanation with an exclamation of understanding, “oh! I heard about you from my mother! You’re Takeru-san's and Miharu-san’s daughter!”

That caught her attention.

Even though Otonobe felt bewildered when her father’s name was mentioned, she bowed in greeting, “nice to meet you. I am Rui Otonobe.”

She knew going the roundabout way was not going to solve anything, so she asked straightforwardly, “I apologize for the impoliteness, but may I ask what your relationship to Kisa-kun is?”

Tetsuya’s eyes widened, and he looked towards Kisa, “hold up. Really Yukihiro? You didn’t tell her yet even though you’ve been here together this whole time?”

“My apologies. I was unable to find an adequate time to mention it.”

“Jeez, you never change do you?”

Tetsuya turned back to face Otonobe and bowed, “I am Tetsuya Munakata. Yukihiro’s older brother. Thank you for coming to the party today.”

“Oh, no...likewise, thank you.”

Even after hearing the confirmation that they were brothers Otonobe still had numerous questions. Kisa saw her expression and told her, “we have the same father, but I am the son of a concubine. That is why are surnames are different.”

“Oh…”

Seeing Otonobe fumble over her words momentarily, Tetsuya’s face grew stern. “Hey, Yukihiro. Who would refer to their own mother that way?”

“My apologies.”

“It’s true that our father had an affair, and I know you beat yourself over it. But don’t you dare denigrate your mother too.”

After Tetsuya finished his lecture, he looked over to Otonobe with a bright smile, “I do apologize. He has always been poor at socializing and reading the situation...I hope he has not caused you any trouble.”

Tetsuya then spoke to his brother again, seeming to have recalled something, “that reminds me. Since you’re working at a magazine editorial department now, make sure to watch your language and not use any profanity.”

“I will take your advice to heart.”

Tetsuya then fully faced Otonobe, “ah, that’s right; I almost forgot. My mother told me where Yukihiro was working, so I bought one of your company’s magazines yesterday. I was really impressed with your original perspective on one of your articles. That one about a subterranean person rigging the stock prices in Wall Street? It was an eye-opener for me when I read that it also correlated with the Slasher attacks that took place in Ikebukuro a few years back.”

Although the subject was shifted over to Otonobe’s work, she did not have a weak fortitude to where she would get flustered.

So he already looked at our magazine? He might be cautious of us.

She kept her expression the same and stated coldly, “I appreciate the high praise. I have great expectations for Yukihiro-kun here. However, may I ask you something, Tetsuya-san?”

“What is it?”

“I imagine you could tell after looking through our magazine, but we do not write the good sides of politicians.”

In fact, their latest edition of Last Week out on the shelves right now covered gossip regarding suspicions about a politician’s lover. Politics was not their main topic to cover usually, and the politician in question was someone else besides Naramori and Munakata. However, regardless of how small the article could be, there was still a chance they would write a story to attack Tetsuya Munakata if the chance arose. Naramori’s attitude towards the issue was indifferent; he had mentioned how little he cared for what the media had to say about him in the 1,000,000 articles made about him in every issue, but there were few politicians in the field with the same broad-mindedness.

Would Tetsuya Munakata be fine with getting his friends and acquaintances mixed up in his work like that?

Naturally for Otonobe she would not go easy on anyone even if they were her workers’ friends. She was currently in debt to Naramori, but she was also fully prepared to mercilessly write about him should be slip out of line.

Tetsuya immediately understood Otonobe’s intentions and replied back, his expression firm and professional, “I can have much more faith in you if you only write apple-polishing articles.”

He then peered at her - not his brother Kisa - as a single politician, “I would like you to use our scandals as much as you need. I will be using you too after all.”

Tetsuya’s words were especially provocative, contradicting the softest smile he gave her in this moment.

“Using us will cost you,” Otonobe returned a fearless smile.

Tetsuya fell silent. He then put on a face for his family once again and patted his brother’s shoulders, chuckling, “looks like you got yourself a fine boss. Good luck.”

After watching Tetsuya walk away, Otonobe slowly looked up to see Kisa’s face and asked, “so you’ve met mister Naramori before?”

“He would occasionally visit our household when my father was still alive. I was introduced to him then.”

“I see. So that’s why you’re unfazed by my position - being the daughter of a big stockholder and all.”

“What are you referring to?”

Kisa cocked his head in earnest, causing Otonobe to sigh, “I’m saying if I fired you or angered your family in any way I’d practically be asking to be dumped out on the streets.”

The Munakata Group was a conglomerate which had far more assets than her mother’s side did. The head of the group who passed away a few years ago, Ryouma Munakata, was known to be one of the pioneering leaders in the financial world.

The fact Naramori would beeline to someone from the Munakata household over her was sufficient proof already. The company’s shares Ryouma Munakata owned had been passed down to his wife and second son, the younger sons and daughters had made accomplishments in their respective fields, and the fourth son had secured his future as a professional baseball player. Out of the family members who were granted success, Kisa was likely the only one who was closest to being a normal person. It was almost like circumstances were set to mock him.

Otonobe intended for her remark to be sarcastic, but Kisa took her words in earnest and said, “there is no need for concern, Chief Otonobe.”

“Of what?”

“My family would never become your adversary.”

He then added in his usual solemn voice, without a hint of doubt, “since you are a nice person, Chief Otonobe.”

“Wha…”

“My family would not have a reason to bear animosity towards you.”

Otonobe’s face twitched, and she took several breaths in an attempt to calm herself. However, the moment she opened her mouth to speak her cell phone went off, and she forced down the words she wanted to say.

“...Hello? This is Otonobe.”

Otonobe hit the button to accept the call and answered after taking a couple more breaths. Her tone of voice was back to how she always sounded.

“Alright. Yes. ...What?”

However, shortly after her voice turned sharp.

“I understand. I appreciate your information.” Otonobe expressed her thanks as she dropped the call and turned to Kisa, “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time to have a eat idly anymore.”

At the same time her gaze wandered around the assembly hall and looked for a certain figure. The moment she confirmed they were absent she took of without waiting to hear Kisa’s response.

Kisa tailed behind her wordlessly, causing the sea of people to part ways for them and allowing them to quickly make their way out of the hall.

・

In the lobby of the hotel Altare.

“Takaura-san. Could we have a moment of your time?”

“Who are you two?”

The chairman of Takaura Construction, Youzou Takaura, was just about to walk out of the hotel when Otonobe and Kisa approached him. When they drew close, his secretaries intercepted them.

They could easily tell how overly vigilant Takaura and his secretaries were, although they seemed more wary of Kisa standing behind Otonobe. The youngest secretary among the group took initiative to stand between Takaura and Otonobe, glaring at Kisa with such vehement to indicate they would stop Kisa with any means necessary.

Otonobe smiled at them boldly and waved her hands slightly, expecting their hostile reaction, “I am not a threat to you. I am Otonobe, the editor-in-chief for Last Week Weekly.”

Takaura’s already stone expression turned even more cold.

“Reporters, huh. I’m not in the mood to exchange business cards. Isn’t it a bit rude to ask for an interview with both mister Naramori and myself without a scheduled appointment beforehand?”

“I did not come here for an interview. I stopped you as I had received information I thought you would like to know.”

“Information?”

Otonobe pretentiously commented when she saw Takaura’s dubious expression, “yes, but with that said...I assume you may have already gotten word if you are taking your leave at this time.”

“Look, just cut to the chase. Tell me what the information is.”

At his prompting, Otonobe uttered the name of a person, “Fuuya Nezu. You know of him, correct?”

“...? Who?”

Takaura tilted his head slightly at first before his complexion changed instantaneously, “wait. If I recall correctly, he was in the same class as my daughter…”

“He was. He testified as a witness in Senji Yamagami’s trial.”

The moment Takaura heard Senji Yamagami’s name his previous expression completely vanished. He looked at her with his defenses up as to prevent himself from showing a single trace of emotion.

“And what about Nezu-kun?”

Although he did not show any emotion, his words were so heavy it felt like the temperature around them would drop.

Feeling the intensity from Takaura’s words and Kisa’s forbidding appearance made cold sweat run down the secretaries’ backs.

Otonobe on the other hand continued, unhinged, “He has passed away.”

“...What?”

“He was likely murdered.”

After a few moments of silence passed, Takaura heaved a sigh. “...I don’t know. What purpose did you have in telling me this?”

Otonobe asked sonorously, “I take it you are already aware of Senji Yamagami’s release?”

“...”

“I find it unlikely for you to not send in a request to the VNS.”

Kisa watched the exchange between his superior and Takaura wordlessly, unable to pitch in.

The VNS was a system where victims of crimes or their families could request information of the culprit’s sentence and when they would be released from jail. Kisa understood what the program was, but he was not familiar with the case they were discussing. Although he did not have any recollection of the name Senji Yamagami, he did remember hearing the name Takaura on the news a lot ten years ago.

He decided it would be better to not participate in the conversation, and so he forced himself to remain silent. However, this caused the secretaries to feel more uneasy, and even the hotel employees watching from afar were unsure whether to call for security or not.

“You are all the same,” Takaura scowled. “You guys act as if you’re some sort of justice league and are ready to gouge people from the inside out. You dare go up to the people who lost their families and ask, ‘how does it feel?’ And you chase us down to ask us these rhetorical questions over and over again.”

Otonobe remained silent and let him speak, but her expression did not waver.

Takaura ranted on about his disgust towards them, “and when the victims try to distance themselves from the events, you all expose their pasts and show it off to the world like it's some spectacle. You use the excuse that ‘it’s what the public wants’ even though no one has never met them or known of their existence prior to. You guys are more vile than the damn assailants. Scum like you go and kill the dead all over again.”

“I will not deny that,” Otonobe remained nonchalant even as her occupation was being spat on. “However, you would be contradicting yourself to make those claims arbitrarily as you are the top of Takaura Constructions, which sponsors wide variety shows on TV and major newspaper companies.”

“Unfortunately trash like you won’t just disappear. If that can’t happen, then it’s only natural for me to put a lid on it so their stench won’t come near me.”

Even though Otonobe had been called trash face-to-face, she did not mind. She was fully aware she had taken actions to warrant it.

Otonobe did not dispute his claim and merely voiced her thoughts with no regard, “I apologize. However, as I said, I did not come here to interview you. I just thought you would want to know this information. I figured you would be concerned for your daughter’s safety if Yamagami was now out in this corrupted world.”

Anger flashed in Takaura’s eyes the moment he heard, ‘your daughter.’

An awkward, unsettling air settled around them, even reaching the secretaries.

“You’re sure just some ignorant, third-rate reporter alright…”

Takaura spoke in a hushed voice:

“My daughter is dead. She died a month before Yamagami was released from prison.”

・

Ten years ago.

The crime Senji Yamagami had committed caused a huge uproar in society. But now his name was not well known to the public. The reason why was because he was a junior at the time, and under the 61th clause of juvenile law his real name could not be reported.

There had been one victim. They had been stabbed to death with a knife.

The victim had been the son of a huge general contractor, and so the press hounded the murder case.

The suspect brought into custody was Boy A, known as Senji Yamagami, who was only fifteen at the time. He was apparently an ex-boyfriend of Kazuko Takaura, the twin sister of the victim Kazuya Takaura. Enraged after she broke up with him, he broke into their home. When her brother Kazuya stepped in to defend her, they got into a scuffle before the assailant pulled a knife out and stabbed him with it.

With the fact that the tragedy happened to a corporate executive’s family - a business which ranked in Japan’s top class in society - due to a boy who turned to murder out of blind love was a crucial component in the case, a battle among journalists within the press commenced, which lead to an uproar so immense it affected the stocks for Takaura Constructions.

Boy A persistently remained silent, not even speaking during his trial. The boy neither appealed to or fought against the charges. The fact the fifteen year old boy would not testify to any of the police’s questions only stirred up the press’s reports more to incite people.

His defense attorney purposed a mental examination as his client would not say a word when the boy spoke up for the first time, claiming he was sane. And the results from the psychiatric examination proved that to be the case.

The boy rejected the mental examination which could have helped reduce his sentence and yet had committed murder while knowing he was of a sound mind. It was likely he would have been considered a heroic outlaw had his charges not been for attacking his ex.

In the end, a couple of Boy A’s classmates had seen him purchasing a knife and witnessed him heading over to the household. Furthermore, with his fingerprints found on the knife, the verdict was: ‘he had planned to attack Kazuko Takaura, but him murdering Kazuya Takaura had been a spontaneous act.’ As a result, it was decided for the boy to be sent to juvenile prison for ten years.

“And so now Yamagami has been recently released from prison and has returned to this corrupt world… That’s the gist of the ten year old case anyway. How much of it do you remember?”

They had left the hotel and were now back in the car, heading to a certain place per Otonobe’s instructions.

Kisa was in the driver’s seat, and after giving some thought he replied, “I was still in middle school at the time, but I do recall seeing it in a newspaper before.”

“Oh? So you are still in your twenties.” After the remark, Otonobe returned back to the conversation, “anyway, that Takaura we ran into earlier was the victim’s father. To be honest, I find it incredible how he managed to continue to work his way up the ladder over these past couple years despite what happened and obtained the position as president after succeeding his grandfather - the founder of the company.”

“You are quite knowledgeable about him.”

“I was intrigued by that case ten years ago. For personal matters, anyway.”

Otonobe watched the scenery fly by through the window and stated with a serious expression, “they said that Boy A didn’t really talk much even during a private trial. I had an informant look into the matter for my work. I had planned to interview Nezu after Yamagami’s release, but he died today.”

“Yet you were unaware of the passing of Takaura-san’s daughter?”

“I knew. But if I didn’t ask him out of ignorance, it wouldn’t come off as a warning,” Otonobe answered brazenly.

Kisa replied out of courtesy, “I understand.”

After a few moments of silence, Otonobe asked with a wry smile, “did I disappoint you?”

“For what?”

“Seeing someone you thought was nice to actually be the type of person to dig into the wounds of the victim’s family member and rub salt into it. I’m asking you how you feel about it.”

Although she was referring to what she did to Takaura earlier, she seemed slightly pleased with herself, despite the lack of a smile.

Kia thought for a few seconds before voicing his thoughts languidly, “this is merely my personal opinion, but I would not say your actions were praiseworthy.”

“You don’t have to beat around the bush. You can just be straight-forward with me and say you felt sick with me.”

“Not to that extent. I assume you had a reason to warrant provoking the family of the victim in that manner.”

His voice was the same as usual, lacking any sense of scorn or despondency.

Otonobe, still gazing out of the window from the passenger’s seat, refuted, “a reason? That’s easy. For the sales of our magazines. Our magazines will sell better if we delve into those topics.”

“They would?”

“They would.”

Otonobe shifted her focus to the driver’s seat, “listen. I’ll give you at least this. I don’t care about the other magazines. But don’t expect my magazine to be righteous or have morality. If you’re going to work for us, you’re going to have to accept the fact and give those up.”

“...”

“I don’t know what ideals you hold or what ethical code you follow. However, my job is to trample on the hearts of people who were involved in cases or rumors and crush them under my heel until they give me something, whether they be the victim or the assailant.”

So dispassionate and nonchalant. The words that came out of Otonobe’s mouth were uttered as though she were reciting curse.

“A family would have lost their mother in a string of murders, and I would go up to their doorbell and ring it insistently until they go nuts. And when they open the door, I will ask, ‘how do you feel right now?’ with a triumphant look.”

Her left hand thudded against the armchair.

“If I find manga volumes or game software that I could use in my favor in the assailant’s room, I will make baseless claims that they were the cause for the person committing the crime.”

Every time she finished her sentence, she would tap her fingers against the window frame, as though keeping count.

“I will patch together the testimonials of children I interviewed and completely change what they said to fabricate what children of today are like. I will look at the victim with sympathy during an interview and then write a provocative article to make it sound like they asked what they had coming for them. I will exploit a single mistake made by a revered hero and kick them down into the ditch - not the other way around.”

“...”

“That’s what my job entails. And you will serve as my accomplice in this field of work, going through these procedures over and over again and being mocked by society.”

Kisa asked Otonobe, still looking straight ahead of him, “I am sorry to trouble you by asking this once more, but what is the purpose of taking those actions to make a magazine?”

“Takaura pointed it out earlier, remember? Because it’s what the people want. Although I’ve never met any of our patrons, I do know people love to hear about scandals regarding others. We could write about more pleasantries, but no one would even bother to look at it. And everyone will get tired of moving tales pretty quickly anyway.”

Otonobe spoke as though she looked down at the mass population.

Kisa fell silent for a few moments, but once the traffic light turned red and the car came to a stop he momentarily looked over to Otonobe, “a museum.”

“What?”

“A planetarium in an amusement park or even a greenhouse in an aquarium. I imagine there are plenty of other examples that could apply here, but I am not very bright so these were the only ones I could think of.”

“What are you talking about?”

Kisa’s solemn voice filled the car, “all these facilities may have their own dark underside to them. There are numerous works of art that depict the negative sides of humanity. However, I believe commerce would succeed even by just writing of pleasantries.”

It was then that Otonobe realized what was happening. This was the first time the man was openly refuting her.

“Picture books, manga, and light novels all cleverly depict the dark sides of our world. Yet I am sure there are people who find the pleasantries you mentioned to be enjoyable as well.”

“...”

“I felt that you were not in this field of work for lack of any other path to take. If the depressing facts you listed earlier are true, then I am under the impression you chose this impure job. What I wish to know are the reasons you continue this line of work and why you proclaim yourself a vile person.”

An extensive silence reigned in the car. But in truth, it may have lasted only ten seconds. The traffic light turned green, and just as Kisa focused back on driving Otonobe spoke: “...you’re remarkable. You dug your heel right into someone’s heart.”

“I apologize if I offended you.”

“No, you just proved you have potential as a reporter. The average person would get scared of you and fess something up.”

Kisa replied, “I doubt I would get any answers to my questions.”

“Obviously they would refuse to have an interview with you.”

Otonobe softly smiled at Kisa, “if you want to interview me, come back and try again once you make more of a name for yourself, newcomer.”

・

Somewhere in the city.

Otonobe and Kisa stopped at a warehouse where bodies were discovered at. The alley leading to the warehouse was blocked off by yellow tape, and several police officers were walking around the parameters. As they just came directly from the party they were still dressed formerly, yet Otonobe still went out to the scene without a care. She instructed Kisa to go and park the car in a proper parking lot before moving towards the scene, fiddling with a pen-sized video camera she had taken out from her bag.

She spotted a couple other reporters in the area as well, but she did not see any news crew at the scene yet so it looked like there were more curious onlookers from the closest residential area than anything else.

The reporters were examining the scene and taking pictures for five minutes when a few of them noticed Otonobe’s presence. She saw disgust appear on their faces before they averted their gaze.

(Hey, looks like Otonobe is sniffing around again. What is she doing here dressed up so nice like that?)

(What sort of information networking does she have? She's just from some third-rate magazine.)

She heard murmurs scorning her, but she did not become irked over their comments. Yet she did not simply ignore them either.

“You must have trouble financially if a first-rate magazine can only match a third-rate magazine’s intel, Maezawa-san from the general GAO and Nagatsuka-san from South Weekly.”

Otonobe had only met the two a few times, but she had their names memorized.

“...”

“...”

The two fell silent, their expressions stiffening. Otonobe looked over at them with a sadistic smile.

“By the way, Maezawa-san, I heard that a young worker from your company was arrested and is going to trial for posting false information on the internet. I hope this hasn’t affected you too much.”

“Y-yes, we’re fine.”

“And speaking of a trial, I heard your magazine lost their case in the past, correct? It must have been so hard for you, right? Nagatsuka-san.”

“...This isn’t a conversation to have in front of a murder scene,” Nagatsuka retaliated in irritation.

Otonobe smiled further. “Is it? I don’t think it’s as unspeakable as much as a great man such as yourself talking behind a woman’s back.”

Nagatsuka clicked his tongue and sauntered over to her, a gleam of scorn alight in his eyes.

“Cut it out. I know I told you before. Do you need me to remind you? Now that we’re on the same playing field we won't receive any drawbacks going against you.”

“You say you have nothing to lose, and yet you resort to gossip? How shrewd of you. Did you think I would cower under you? You purposefully said what you did so I would hear it, didn't you?”

Otonobe’s smile spread further.

Veins bulged under Nagatsuka’s temples, and he was about to shout something when-

“Sorry to have kept you waiting.”

Upon seeing the massive silhouette appear behind Otonobe, Nagatsuka was left with his jaw dropped, gawking like a goldfish. The moment he saw the face of the giant figure, he turned pale and took a step back.

“What is it, Chief Otonobe? Who are these gentlemen here?”

Kisa merely looked over to the two men, yet from their perspective they felt nothing but a sharp gaze set on them.

“Well then, Otonobe-san. We’ll take our leave.”

“It wouldn’t do us any good to collude with someone from another company anyway…”

The two reporters spoke swiftly before looking away in fear and walking away.

“Perfect timing,” Otonobe commented with a shrug.

Kisa inquired, “they mentioned they lacked any drawbacks. What were they referring to?”

“It’s a private matter. It has nothing to do with anyone in the editorial department.”

Just as Otonobe did not elaborate more on the matter, neither did Kisa press her more for information.

Now that Otonobe had an understanding of Kisa’s personality, she gradually reverted back to her usual self. And Kisa also took notice of the changes in her.

Otonobe did not smile, and yet since they arrived Otonobe’s expression was much more expressive than it was at the party. It could be because this crime scene was a space where Rui Otonobe could breathe with ease.

Kisa pondered to himself as he silently walked behind her, his thoughts and feelings kept hidden behind the wall that was his large, menacing-looking body - not allowing anyone to peer within.

Even so, the man himself was not trying to be conspicuous in the first place.

・

“Oh? Niekawa-san. It has been quite some time.”

Otonobe had been looking for tall buildings where she could possibly get an overview of the scene the police had blocked off when she had come across an old, familiar face.

“Oh hey, Rui-chan. How many years has it been? …… ……!?”

The middle-aged man - Niekawa - had greeted her with an exhausted yet warm smile. However, when he saw Kisa towering over behind her his expression stilled in fear.

“Ah, um...er, and who is this?” Niekawa looked like he was ready to flee any second.

Otonobe introduced one to the other, “right. This is Yukihiko Kisa. He’s our apprentice in the editorial department. And Kisa-kun, this is Niekawa-san. He was my senior colleague when I worked part-time with the Tokyo Warrior magazine a couple years ago.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you. You may refer to me as Kisa,” he said with a polite, dignified tone and bowed.

“Oh, I see. Oh, umm. I’m Shuji Niekawa. Nice to meet you.”

Niekawa was still evidently terrified of Kisa, yet he managed to force a smile and handed him his business card.

“Thank you. Though I must apologize; I still do not have a business card of my own…”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Rui-chan already has my number and knows my address anyway.”

“Could you please stop that? You make it sound like I was your ex-girlfriend.”

“...I don’t dare have the guts to go out with someone like you.”

“I have trouble taking that at face value. You had interviewed and intermingled with the yakuza in the past. ...Oh? Niekawa-san, you went freelance?”

Otonobe glanced over to look at the business card he had given Kisa, cocking her head curiously.

“Oh, I guess I didn’t tell you. After my daughter ran away, a lot of stuff went down. I was desperate and ended up leaving the company. But I couldn’t do any other work besides this,” Niekawa expressed with a heavy sigh.

Otonobe remarked, “I can imagine. This type of environment isn’t suited for you.”

“It’s still unsettling when a dead person is involved, no matter how much experience you have under your belt. But I have to do it to eat everyday.”

“And how much do you have so far, Niekawa-san?”

Niekawa sighed when Otonobe pressed him to share information so casually, “I’m pretty sure you’d get more by asking other writers before me, y’know. I heard the guys from New Year and Literature Tides got here first.”

“I don’t believe there would be anyone else more personable and willing to share their findings in a trade besides yourself.”

“It may appear that way, but back in the day I was also desperate to get the latest scoop, y’know? So much so I went up to the yakuza to find out about the urban legend,” Niekawa expressed, trying to sound firm.

Otonobe frowned, “was that when you were tasked to write an article on the strongest person in Ikebukuro?”

“...”

“I heard you got seriously injured and had to take off work for a period of time.”

“I don’t really remember what happened back then. I barely recall anything from a good half of that year,” Niekawa told her, genuine distress in his eyes.

Otonobe returned to the earlier conversation to encourage him, “in either case, there’s no one else who would be more willing to exchange intel other than you. You must know most of the writers here absolutely despise me.”

“If you’re aware of it, maybe you should try to make the effort to...ah, never mind. It wouldn’t be like you to be more friendly with others,” Niekawa reflected. He then looked between Otonobe and Kisa, “Everyone including myself are all scrambling for pieces. Do you have any information you could trade with me?”

Otonobe hummed resolutely, “the victim - Nezu-san - had served as witness in the trial for the murder of the son of the current Takaura company’s president.”

“...You mean that Boy A?”

Otonobe then listed the bits of information she had acquired from the conversation she had in the lobby earlier this afternoon. Niekawa’s face scrunched up, troubled, “now that’s a development. This may become more serious than I would have expected.”

“?”

“I heard from a couple workers talking who saw the scene before the officials got there. There was a message that read ‘I’m innocent’ on the wall adjacent to the body. I’m not sure how accurate it is though.”

“...”

Senji Yamagami’s case had stuck with Otonobe ever since she first read the report ten years ago. The harsh remarks she made to Takaura earlier were nothing more than to provoke someone partially related to the case and see their reaction. However, now having come here, shivers ran up Otonobe’s spine.

The cause of death was yet to be announced to the public, yet out of all possibilities there was an evident ‘case.’

Was this truly related to the case that occurred ten years ago? Did her own theories come true and manifested before her?

Otonobe pondered to herself, feeling a sense of premonition. Now that the tide had turned, she went over which courses of action she should take and whom to interrogate here. Another option she could take was to find Yamagami’s residence now that he was out of prison and confront him before the police could interfere.

“Sounds like hitting up Senji Yamagami is a good idea.”

Niekawa had also arrived to the same conclusion as her. He was looking through his list of contacts on his cell phone, seemingly choosing who to contact among his information network, when his cell phone went off.

“Jeez, at a time like this? ...Sorry, Rui-chan.”

“I don’t mind. I wouldn’t want to interrupt-...” Otonobe’s phone also went off as she replied to him.

Otonobe’s felt a strange uneasiness settle in, finding the almost perfect synchronized resonance unusual.

The caller ID on display was the sort she could not tell to others - an illegal information source within an administration of justice. This information source had informed her regarding the case here earlier, and now that she received yet another call from them at this very moment Otonobe shook, having an inkling of the purpose behind it.

She herself did not differentiate between the two - whether she shook in fear towards the foreboding situation or in delight for possibly finding a new scope.

“...Hello? …...Yes...Right. And you are certain that is the name?”

She talked with her information provider for a couple more minutes before hanging up, frowning after the fact just like earlier.

“We’re leaving, Kisa-kun.”

“Understood.”

She expressed her thanks to Niekawa who was still on the phone, and the pair turned away as he waved farewell to them.

“Sorry. I’ll need you to drive me around for the whole day today.”

“I would be obliged to.”

Kisa walked ahead of Otonobe, taking the lead to guide her to the car.

Although he did not ask her, Otonobe began telling him about the phone call she had, “apparently another body has been found.”

These words slipped off her tongue as though she was commenting on the likeliness of a rain shower, lacking any substantive as it should.

“It’s more than likely connected to this one.”

Perhaps Niekawa received his information through similar methods. Otonobe began to consider which stance she should take for her article, assuming that writers for bigger magazines were already on the move.

Taking notice of her train of thought, she mused to herself once more:

‘Huh. I’m already thinking strictly business, even though someone had turned up dead. There’s no way I could be considered a good person for making a living of the dead and treat it as though it’s nothing. Not that I care anyway. If Kisa’s going to keep on with this nonsense and call me a nice person, whatever. I’ll let him do as he pleases.’

She smiled wryly, recalling her nickname, ‘Otsuberu, was it? That will do just fine. I’ll just use the good-natured elephant to my benefit, just like Otsuberu did in the fable.’

She submerged herself further into the depths of her heart, as though reclaiming herself after Kisa had shaken her up these past few days, and uttered one name: “Taizou Kanai.”

“...?”

“He was one of the classmates that testified he saw Yamagami with a knife in his trial.”

She continued, speaking as though she was informing him about how a friend of hers was doing, “they found him dead not too long ago.”

・

Nighttime in Ochamizu - within the editorial department.

A few hours ago.

The editorial department was in disarray, despite the rearrangement Kisa did in a section the day prior. The office was supposed to be quiet, with most of the employees were originally off today, yet now there was just the clicking of keys and Kozaki’s vocal complaints as usual.

“Goddammit. I thought I would finally have a day off to chill and relax since we couldn’t change the article at this point.”

“The electronic app is open all days of the year. And there is a good amount of users utilizing the Last Week app.”

“If we’re doing all this for the internet peeps, could we at least be able to work from home?”

Kashii was composing the article for the app as he listened to Kozaki’s complaints.

They received a call from Otonobe directly to come into the office earlier that evening. This seemed to be the case with everyone else too, if the insistent typing of keys throughout the office were an indicator.

They were promised to receive extra compensation and a guaranteed day of rest to make up for the occasion, however, Kozaki kept grumbling, finding the whole situation unfair mentally.

“With a big case like this, we should just let the bigger companies dive right in and handle it, y’know? We could come in later with a ‘the darkness within’ sort of take. It wasn’t our article that kick started the whole debacle with the Bandaged Man the newbie got a scoop on.”

Kozaki muttered complaints under his breath as he glanced down at the fax form he held in his hand.

“Still, I’m amazed we’ve been getting genuine faxes at our facility. Just what connections does Otsuberu have…?”

The paper he had was the official police report on this current development, sent to each of the mass media companies from no other than the media spokesperson in the police headquarters. It depicted that the victims were confirmed as two of the witnesses who testified against Senji Yamagami in his trial years ago, and considering the time of their deaths were not far apart the messages left at the scene, there was a high chance they were consecutive murders committed by the same person.

The investigation would have focused on the underground considering that Kana’i had a huge amount of debt he gained from there, but now that it was connected with Nezu’s murder and there had been a ‘I am innocent’ message at the scene, no one imagined these murders were money-related. The officials were now pursuing for the most prominent suspect, as the police were unable to make contact with the mutual the two victims shared.

“And this ‘mutual’ must be Senji Yamagami, right? The Boy A kid?”

“They could not possibly put him on a wanted list or refer to him by name as there is yet to be proof. The police would not like to call someone a suspect days after they had gotten off of parole.”

“Yamagami’s name is already being blown up on the internet though.”

Kashii replied back, ignoring Kozaki’s murmur of complaint on the point of them updating their app, “yet Otsuberu-san is someone who has a grip on something. I hardly imagine she happened to have a stroke of luck for being near Takaura when the news broke out.”

“I work in the celeb field, so I don’t really believe in the occult or fate stuff you’re going on about.”

“So you say, despite being overly superstitious when it comes to horse racing.”

Kozaki went back to expressing his annoyance, “that’s beside the point. Where did Otsuberu go after dumping all this work on us?”

“She took the newcomer and went for an interview. She said she would check the draft and instructed us to upload it to the drop box.”

“Yeah, I really can’t wrap my head around that crap, so I’ll leave it to you. And an interview? Where at?”

“You are utterly incompetent in utilizing computers, other than to browse adult websites, aren’t you? Kozaki-san.”

Kashii then spoke plainly as though it was unrelated to him, gaze still focused on his computer screen, “she went to see a family member of Senji Yamagami’s - his older brother, Senichi Yamagami. Yamagami’s parents had passed away not long before the case happened, leaving Senji in his older brother’s care.”

He stopped typing momentarily before adding, “I imagine many others from the press are on his tail right now.”

・

In the city - Sentagaya Ward.

There was a small warehouse tucked away in a desolate residential area, where a small crowd were congregating at. Several reporters surrounded a man around his thirties when he came out of the facility.

"Senichi-san. Has your brother Senji contacted you at all?"

"Although he has just gotten taken off parole, I was wondering if you made any contact with him."

"There are some who say he was released from prison too early. Could you give us your thoughts on the matter?"

"There was a message claiming innocence found at the crime scene."

"Two people who served as witness to your brother's trial have been found dead. Can we hear your take on this?"

"I heard from an unofficial source that a confession and a letter thought to be his was found in his apartment."

"How do you feel right now?"

"ー"

"ー"

"..."

"..."

A man was planted in front of voice recorders, questions being launched at him in rapid succession.

None of the reporters present dared proclaim his younger brother was the culprit out loud, as he was yet to be announced as a suspect. However, it was more than apparent with their presence here as well as their provocative questions that they decided his brother to be the culprit.

“Please, stop! I had cut my ties with him long ago already! He keeps bringing me trouble!” A man in uniform shouted in defiance, his right hand tightening around the towel in his grip. “Do you know how much I went through because of him!? Honestly, I never wanted him to let out!”

Senichi Yamagami had been relocating from place to place shortly after the ordeal until three years ago, where he returned to Tokyo to work at this factory.

He initially pretended to be absent, but as the crowd of reporters grew he showed himself to them as to not inconvenience his workplace.

Otonobe watched the scene a little distance away, muttering to herself, “ah, and here it is. He would’ve been better off escaping through the back door.”

“Would it?” Kisa inquired. He was currently concealing himself behind a telephone poll, feeling he would bring unnecessary attention to Otonobe otherwise.

“Do you know what course of action you should take if someone in your family causes a crime and you find yourself surrounded by the press?”

“I do not.”

Otonobe explained at length when her subordinate shook his head, “whether you believe in your family member’s innocence and send the press away, answer every question asked earnestly, or acknowledge their wrongdoing and apologize on their behalf - these will all have the opposite effect. Any response you make in front of the mic or on camera will be used to fuel the fire.”

She had a far-off look in her eyes, giving the impression that she was speaking from her own experience.

“Getting no reaction from someone who isn’t even the culprit is not enthralling to anyone. It’ll frustrate them if the person refuses to talk and be more demanding for a response, but in the end there’s not that many people who would care for someone not related to the case, let alone a family member of the assailant.”

“I see.”

“I suppose the best course of action to take is to vanish into the air. If possible, I’d say to take just enough money and seclude yourself in a capsule hotel in a different region.”

Kisa, after a few moments of thought, came back with, “however, what would you do on the off-chance staying quiet would not resolve anything?”

“That would only be the case if you were directly the person involved. If you are being suspected, you could always claim you didn’t do it. Or if you are guilty, you could either come out clean and apologize right away or fight against the statements being made. If you do a lousy job at it, then you’ll be made to be looked in a different light.”

Otonobe’s take sounded extreme, but Kisa did not question her for an explanation as to why, probably assuming she was speaking from her professional experience.

“If there are any reporters who would waste their time tailing a family that hasn’t spoken up in more than three days, then they are just idiots. People would already be focused on the newest shocking story by that point.”

She looked over at the previous pair of reporters before shifting her attention to the brother with eyes of pity, “we don’t write articles filled with half-truths. We don’t produce smoke when there is no fire. That said, there could be a fire spreading in a completely separate area. In either case, our job is to use the smoke to devise something and give it shape - not the fire.”

Otonobe tapped the back of her hand against Kisa’s stomach as she took a step towards the circle of reporters, “I think it’s about time we go searching for any smoke emissions.”

When Otonobe and Kisa drew closer, the commotion within the crowd instantly lessened. Some stilled when they saw Kisa, while the others who spotted Otonobe scowled and muttered amongst themselves, “it’s Otsuberu…!”

Senichi Yamagami was still oblivious to the situation, merely looking up at Kisa wide-eyed before looking at Otonobe - still downed in fancy attire - in bewilderment.

Otonobe monopolized the moment of quiet to ask Senichi one question: “do you truly believe your brother murdered Kazuya Takaura?”

The temperature around them dropped instantly.

The question did not pertain to the recent victims - Nezu and Kanai. Otonobe had brought up the authenticity of the crime his brother committed all those years ago, even though his trial had been concluded back then and he served his time in prison.

“What...what did you say?” Senichi questioned with a tremor to his voice.

Otonobe continued, “I know this happened so long ago, but your brother kept silent until the very end, didn’t he? I know what the police and judicial officers’ takes are; I want to know if you truly believed your brother committed the crime or not.”

Given the circumstances, it was natural to assume Senji Yamagami was extracting his revenge on those who testified against him. And yet, Otonobe just casually asked about the root of all this with a case that had been settled in the courtroom.

“Well, what do you think? Do you also believe your brother was the troubled youth like how the people here have written him up as in their magazines?”

All the reporters turned as white as a sheet when Otonobe used the occasion as an excuse to insult them. In the back, Niekawa heaved a sigh, making an exasperated face which read, 'not again.'

“Of...of course not!” Senichi’s lips quivered before emitting a shout.

His focus was not on any of the reporters other than Otonobe as he howled, “He was...he was never the kind of kid to kill someone! He wouldn’t have tried to do anything to someone for being dumped! I’m the one who is most confused with the outcome of that trial! It doesn’t make sense to me!”

“Thank you.”

Otonobe bowed deeply, stating firmly to Senichi, “I also believe someone else had committed the crime.”

She left that massive bomb of a statement and turned to leave with Kisa. As she did, she looked over to the other reporters with a final word, “you shouldn’t go too hard on the weak. You don’t want to go through what we did, do you?”

“You bitch…!”

One of the enraged reporters threw a pen at Otonobe’s back. It had been Nagatsuka from South Weekly they had ran into earlier.

However, just before the pen struck her beside the head, a massive hand had caught it in its grasp.

“...”

Nagatsuka yelped when his eyes met Kisa’s.

Kisa briskly walked over to him. His long legs allowed him to close the gap in just a few steps.

“Ah...Umm, I-I didn’t mean it. My hand slipped,” Nagatsuka apologized, shaking like a leaf, yet Kisa merely held out the pen to him.

“...You dropped this.”

Kisa then turned on his heel and followed after Otonobe, walking in the same, quick strides, almost as if he lacked any concern at their display of malice.

The reporters and Senichi were left standing there with their mouths gaping even after the two had left. Now that Otonobe was gone, the reporters resumed their questioning, acting as though she was never there to begin with.

Senichi returned to himself, “I have nothing else to say to the lot of you. Leave.”

・

Inside the car.

“Sorry I had you drive me around the whole day. We’ll resume work tomorrow after we look over the new police statement on the events,” Otonobe said as she stretched in the passenger seat.

Kisa turned to her with a question, “about what you said earlier.”

“What of it?”

“Do you have any proof you are going off of to indicate Senji Yamagami’s innocence?”

“None whatsoever.”

Kisa was left speechless at Otonobe’s indifferent answer.

Otonobe began to explain her take without a hint of shame, “it seemed like everyone had already decided Senji Yamagami had to be the culprit and had a problem with his release from prison. So I decided to take the opposing stance. That’s all there is to it.”

“What purpose is there in taking an action of that nature?”

“If I was going to take the same stance as everyone else, I would’ve left this story for the major companies to handle to begin with. If it felt like everyone there were going to go with the ‘I believe your brother was innocent’ route, then I would’ve adequately said I believed his brother to be the murderer,” Otonobe explained as she gazed outside, watching the lights flash by.

“I don’t believe in it myself, but I do just like going against the flow. If everyone says go right, I’ll go left. And if it was left, then I’d go right. I get the urge to see what happens when I go up against the current.”

“I see. That is part of our magazine’s doctrine, then? I understand.”

Otonobe huffed, “you’re so dry. You understand that if you keep tagging along with me and comply to my selfish whims, you’ll be at odds with society, right?”

“Yes, I am devoted to the cause.”

“...Well, I admit the only enemies you’ll encounter are those guys who mutter insults towards me under their breath. The ones who are truly worrisome are the bunch that don’t look at me with disgust. Like Fukumi-san from Fly High Weekly, Muguruma-san from True Story Bray, or the people from that class. They can always keep their calm no matter the situation.”

Otonobe thought of her rivals from larger companies in the industry, gathering up her wits.

Kisa, still looking ahead, nodded firmly, “I suppose so. Let us try our best.”

“...Try our best? Aren’t we already?”

Otonobe thought she had got a full grasp on Kisa’s personality, yet it seemed there were sides of him she still had to figure out.

Otonobe kept her gaze focused outside the window and attempted to start a conversation completely removed from their exertions today, “I would like to stress this: make sure to forget when you saw me this morning.”

“You mean when you wore a jersey and had glasses on?”

“Like I said; erase that from your memory!”

After she expressed this in a harsh tone, she went on, “and I would appreciate it if you could forget me in this outfit too. The true me is the one you see in the office. Got it?”

“However, you look great in them. You greatly resemble Miharu-san.”

Otonobe shook her head when she heard her mother’s name, “don’t say we look alike. My mother Miharu and I are not related by blood. She is my father’s second wife. He remarried well over five years ago, so I don’t really think much of it at this point.”

After Otonobe finished her sentence, she recalled: ‘that’s right; Kisa has a more complicated relationship with his family.’

However, Kisa did not show any particular emotion to her comment and merely apologized, “I see. I apologize for my ignorance.”

“Don’t think about it.”

“Nonetheless, I do think you and Miharu-san are quite alike.”

Otonobe frowned, “and how so?”

“You are both kind.”

“...”

“And I believe your biological mother would be proud of you too,” Kisa expressed his thoughts solemnly without any shame.

“...You sure like to be unpleasant.”

“Am I? I apologize.”

Otonobe added, eyes narrowing, “besides, haven’t you only met my mother Miharu just the other day?”

“I did. But I am sure she is a wonderful person.”

“You may be too amiable as a reporter.”

In truth, Otonobe knew full well that her mother was a good person, or even just a pure human being. Yet it was unusual for someone to arrive at that conclusion after meeting her once.

If it was not for Kisa’s intimidating appearance, he would have been the easiest sucker for scammers to prey on.

Otonobe looked over to examine his face and realized she still felt a jolt of fear when she did.

‘Of course, it’s normal to not be completely over it in just two to three days.’

Otonobe joked sarcastically to drown out the apprehension that came over her, “you must have some huge holes in place of your eyes if you watched what I did today and still have the audacity to call me ‘nice.’ You might be better off writing articles about UFOs or the abominable snowman after all.”

“Why thank you.”

Otonobe let out a laugh when Kisa thanked her for some unexplained reason.

He’s so weird.

Since when have I been able to let my guard down and have a long conversation with someone?

Otonobe pondered to herself as she felt a pleasant warmth she had not felt in years surface. There was no way she could be a good person if she could laugh like this after just coming back from an interview concerning a murder. And thinking again how this did not bother her, she reflected on the emotion she was feeling now.

All while believing that even if amidst the scene of carnage that was to come the following day, this memory could be therapeutic for her to some extent.

----

Translation: Kaede726

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