Denpa Teki na Kanojo - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

  In the Footsteps of the Fool

“—With Yukihime?”

“Yeah.”

After school, as usual, Jyuu met Ame by the shoe lockers. He wasted no time in filling her in on what happened yesterday.

He had started seeing Yukihime. Of course, as lovers. 

He also added that he had scheduled a date with Yukihime today.

Jyuu decided that it was the best way to keep Ame from becoming suspicious of him even if they were alone together. His decision didn’t seem to be entirely wrong.

Ame was surprised when she heard the story, but she didn’t think it was strange, and didn’t object. As a servant, she probably thought that she had no right to interfere in her master’s love affairs. That assumption was a blessing in times like these. 

“That’s why, I’ll be spending a lot of time with her after school and on holidays. You don’t have to worry about me, just do whatever you want.”

“Alright.”

“What do you think about me dating Yukihime?”

He asked—mostly out of curiosity, and slight mischief. 

Ame answered calmly, at least on the surface, in her usual tone.

“Yukihime can be a bit annoying, but she’s kind at heart. If that is what Jyuu-sama wants, then so be it.”

“I see. By the way, what kind of guy do you like?”

Another borderline mean question. 

After what happened yesterday, he ended up feeling that way.

Jyuu was curious about what Ame talked about with that guy, Kusaka, and whether or not Hikaru told Ame about the embarrassing thing he did. It wasn’t like he could just ask her either of those things, because doing so would be utterly pathetic.

At least, according to his pride. His foolish pride.

Jyuu shook his head lightly, dismissing the thoughts.

It doesn’t matter. What I have to do, what I want to do—neither of them has anything to do with that.

Ame was silent for a while. Rather than anxious, she seemed perplexed by the question that she had heard for the first time in her life.

“I’ve never thought about it.”

It wasn’t convincing, but it was a typical response from her.

“I see.”

Jyuu’s response also naturally became cold.

What kind of response was I expecting from her?

What does she expect from me? I have no clue either.

That day, when they parted ways near the apartment, Ame’s gaze seemed to linger on Jyuu. As always, she held her bag in both hands, chin tucked, and stood upright.

It was as if she wanted to say something, but couldn’t.

Or was that simply Jyuu’s wishful thinking?

***

Jyuu returned to his room, washed his face to refresh himself, then changed into comfortable clothes and went out into the city.

It was past five in the evening.

Summer had long since ended, but the heat hadn’t subsided, and from what he saw on the news, new records were being broken. 

Global warming. 

He was tired of hearing it every year. 

When he thought of extinction, he had the image of all living things becoming inactive, like in the Ice Age. However, would the real deal be the opposite since earth was warming? Or was there no connection between extinction and heat? 

Corpses were cold. No corpse got hot when it died. Yet stars burned out and perished. So, stars weren’t living things. Despite that, many people said that the earth was alive. Where did that come from?

Thinking about such trivial things, Jyuu made his way down the road, sinking into the darkness of the evening.

This morning, for the first time in a while, he listened attentively to the news. Nevertheless, there weren’t many reports related to The Gouger. 

Naturally, the victim’s family refused to be interviewed, and no reporter was senseless enough to try to interview a child who had lost her eyes. 

Even though it was a shocking incident, the media’s coverage was somewhat half-hearted. There might be some kind of regulation that Jyuu was unaware of.

This morning’s headline news was about a former Self-Defense Forces member who had secretly taken gas weapons with him when he was discharged. At first, he intended to detonate them at a subway station, but after an altercation with a passenger who noticed, he committed suicide by jumping in front of a train that was approaching the platform. 

It seemed difficult to get more information about The Gouger’s incident from the media unless there were new victims. So, if Yukihime had some way of getting information, he should rely on it, putting aside his silly pride. 

At the appointed time, Jyuu arrived at the same fast food restaurant as yesterday. He looked for Yukihime. To those around him, it would seem like they were meeting up for a date, but the reality wasn’t as sweet.

He noticed someone waving at him from the same seat as yesterday. On closer inspection, it turned out to be Yukihime.

“Here you go.”

Appearing to have ordered before him, Yukihime handed Jyuu a drink. Another oolong tea.

Jyuu took a seat and looked at Yukihime’s outfit again.

“I couldn’t recognize you at first.”

“Does it suit me?”

“Looks easy to move in.”

That day, Yukihime was wearing a baseball cap, a slightly large shirt, and slim jeans. The cap had ‘SABER’ written on it. The bulges that were pushing against the chest area was difficult to look at, but considering the seriousness of the situation, it wasn’t the time to worry about that. She seemed to be particular about tying her hair up using the white ribbon. 

“Considering the action, I decided not to wear a skirt.”

“That’s wise.”

“Or, would you have preferred a skirt, Jyuuzawa-kun? Do you want to see my legs?”

“Just to be sure, you don’t have a knife, do you?”

“Eh, why?”

“You like knives, don’t you?”

“I like them, but I don’t carry them 24/7 because that would be a pain. I’d end up wanting to cut all sorts of things.”

What ‘sorts of things?’

Jyuu wondered, but decided to cut to the case. He drank some oolong tea to replenish the moisture from the sweat he'd shed on the way there. After taking a breather, he started talking. There were many more customers around than yesterday, but no one paid attention to him.

In today’s world, neither shopkeepers nor customers could invade the privacy of others. While a couple was talking about love, students were discussing the date and time of a lynching, and next to them, children were excitedly discussing games.

Such is modern society.

Jyuu placed his oolong tea on the tray and spoke in a slightly lower voice.

“So, what happened with that information gathering stuff you mentioned yesterday?”

“I bought it.”

Yukihie took out a folded stack of copy paper from the back pocket of her jeans. Thinking that she bought issues of a weekly magazine, Jyuu skeptically opened it. Jyuu couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“How did you get your hand on this?”

The names and photos of the victims of The Gouger were listed on the paper, along with the date and location of each incident, and even the details of when they went missing and how they were found. There was also the address and phone number of each victim. 

In the very last column was Kagami Sakura’s name and photo. 

It was definitely her.

Such detailed information had never been made public on television, much less in magazines.

“I asked Endo to do it.”

“Endo-san?”

“It’s what they call an adult business.”

“Are her parents some big shots?”

“Are you curious?”

“No, I get it. She has strong connections.”

“...”

“What?”

“I thought if I brought up something like that, you’d pursue it further. ‘What are you hiding?’”

“Is that something I have to know?”

“No, but...”

“Then I don’t really care.”

He didn’t intend to delve too deeply into it. 

Was it out of the lack of curiosity, or because it applied to himself?

Jyuu wouldn’t be too ecstatic if someone were to ask him about Benika or his father either.

Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done unto you.

Such was the basic principle of human relationships that Benika taught him when he was young.

He couldn’t always keep it, but he should whenever possible.

Seeing Jyuu’s attitude, Yukihime was taken aback, her mouth agape, then she looked happy.

“You’re really something else.”

“What?”

“Maybe I’m in love with you.”

“Don’t be silly, let’s cut straight to the case.”

The problem was how to use this information.

Although it was helpful to have such detailed information, he still didn’t know how to proceed.

As Jyuu was pondering, Yukihime suggested.

“Why don’t we go around the crime scenes first? There might be some clues.”

“...That’s true.”

Jyuu agreed, and the two left the fast-food restaurant and got into a rental car for the address shown in the information.

***

The first victim of the Gouger, Eri Kusaka, was a four-year-old girl who was in the younger group of Oohato Kindergarten at the time of the incident. From the photograph, she gave the impression of a quiet girl, the kind who would spend her time playing alone with building blocks in the corner of a classroom.

The incident occurred more than two years ago in the winter, on her way home from kindergarten. Eri was using a city bus to go to and from her home and kindergarten. Of course, she was accompanied by a parent. 

The weather was terrible that day, with downpours from the morning. Many passengers were carrying umbrellas, and since it was winter, they were overdressed, so the bus was crowded. There was also a traffic jam on the road. The bus was slow to move, and the passengers were getting irritated. Some were so tired, they fell asleep while standing. 

It must’ve been very difficult to hold hands with a small child in that situation. Children were sensitive to stress, so they tired out quickly. 

When the accompanying parent saw that Eri looked sleepy, they quickly had her sit in a seat as soon as one became available. 

The decision that it would be safe to let her sleep in the seat was appropriate in that situation. If there was any negligence, it was that the guardian had also fallen asleep from fatigue.

Eri’s guardian, who had been sleeping while holding on to the bus strap, woke up when the bus shook violently. They turned to look at Eri’s seat and were relieved to see that the small figure wearing a yellow raincoat was still there. However, as they arrived at the bus stop near their house and tried to wake up the sleeping Eri, they went pale.

It wasn’t Eri.

It was a different person, albeit wearing a similar yellow raincoat. Moreover, the girl was around Eri’s age, so the guardian mistook it for her. That day, the guardian also happened to be buying new glasses and was wearing old ones that weren’t the right prescription.

The guardian immediately searched the bus, but Eri was nowhere to be found.

Most likely, it was a kidnapping.

A missing person report was filed with the police an hour later.

The police, who were busy dealing with heinous crimes day and night, weren’t very welcoming, but they were the only ones Eri’s parents could turn to. The police only took I seriously as a missing person case that night. 

A drunk salaryman waiting for the first train discovered a young girl sleeping in a flower bed in front of the station. Shocked to see blood soaking through the bandages on her face, the salaryman ran to the nearby police station.

The first case of The Gouger roughly went like that.

***

The crime scene should’ve been the bus where she disappeared, but Jyuu and Yukihime went to the kindergarten Kusaka Eri attended.

Upon arriving, they looked out the gate at the quiet kindergarten after the children had gone home.

Leaving aside The Gouger, recently, there had been many perverse crimes targeting young children, so the children were going home earlier.

Now that the sun had set, there were no lights on in the kindergarten, and the staff had already gone home.

“I wonder who invented slides and swings,” Yukihime said, gazing at the playground where the children played with nostalgia.

Jyuu lowered his gaze to the documents in front of him and read them by the light of the street lamp.

There had been several eyewitness reports of the culprit, but none of them were reliable, so it was difficult to name a suspect.

The carelessness of the police’s initial investigation was also one of the factors that worsened the situation. The police certainly didn’t expect that incident to lead to a dozen others like it.

The number of victims so far was 34, and they were all children between the ages of 4 and 6. There were 13 boys and 21 girls. It seemed that they were selected based on age, but the intention so far was unknown. The same went for removing the eyeballs. 

Apparently, the removal of eyeballs wasn’t only done without force, but also impossible without medical knowledge. After removal, the bleeding was stopped. The target was only the eyeballs. The perpetrator didn’t seem to care about the lives of the children. Since all the victims were young and blind, their testimonies were inevitably vague, without any clues that might hint at the culprit.

For the children, it was all they could do to get used to the sudden darkness, rather than worrying about the circumstances under which they were kidnapped or what kind of person the perpetrator was. It was only natural, as even adults would be confused if they were to experience something like that.  

Judging from past cases, these kinds of serial crimes usually occurred locally, but not with The Gouger. Looking at the documents given to him by Yukihime, two-thirds of The Gouger’s crimes occurred in Tokyo, and the rest in the countryside.

What could they infer from that?

Some places were too far away to visit in a day, and it may be impossible to investigate them all, but Jyuu was determined to do everything he could.

“Jyuuzawa-kun, I just realized something amazing.”

“What is it?”

“What?”

“When you spell kindergarten (Yōchien), doesn’t it sound like a Chinese name, ‘You-Chen’?”

“...”

“The same goes for nursery school (Hoikuen), ‘Hui-Kuen.’”

“...I’m gonna hit you.”

“Noo—”

The two left the gate and decided to walk around the kindergarten. That area was mostly residential and quiet at night, with not many people out and about.

Walking next to Jyuu, Yukihime swung her hands, her eyes darting around, restless like a child.

“Somehow, my heart is pounding. Or rather, I think I’m nervous. Maybe I like the dark.”

“Lower your voice. It’s nighttime.”

“Wow, are you my mother?”

Such an unpleasant analogy. Yukihime laughed with glee, and Jyuu silenced her with a light glare.

“Be serious.”

“Ookay. Well, if you think about it logically, that means the culprit was on the bus that Kusaka Eri was on, right?”

“That’s probably the case. The guardian in question, her uncle, Kusaka Seiji, was once a suspect, but he was soon released. So, the culprit was among the other passengers.”

“...Kusaka Seiji? Where have I heard that name before?”

Yukihime groaned, but after a while, she clasped her hands together.

“Oh, I remember now. Maybe ‘Kusaka-san’ was him.”

“Do you know him?”

“It could be a coincidence, but I’m sure it’s him. Ame knows him, too.”

Does Ame know him too?

Then, it dawned on Jyuu.

The man he saw at Ame’s house that day was definitely called ‘Kusaka.’

Is he the same Kusaka Seiji from this document?

“What kind of guy is he?”

“Well, you see,” Yukihime answered, looking up at the night sky while retracing her memories.

“That was at the end of last year, I think. You probably don’t know, but every summer and winter, there’s a big event that takes place for a few days. It’s a festival where a lot of people who like anime and manga gather. I often participate in it with Ame and Endo. On the last day of the event, I was starving, so we decided to go and eat somewhere before going home. So, we wandered around the downtown area looking for a suitable restaurant. Considering it was the end of the year, it was really crowded. Everywhere was full, and it looked like we’d have to share a table. I remembered thinking ‘it can’t be helped.’ Endo didn’t like the idea. She said she couldn’t take out the doujinshi she bought because she was worried about what others would think. Maybe it was weird and shameful, or she was just not prepared...”

“Enough about that, tell me what happened next.”

“Okay, okay. So, then—...”

At that time, the person sharing a table with Yukihime and the others at the restaurant was Kusaka Seiji. Kusaka was smoking a cigarette and drinking coffee. He seemed to be having a long conversation with someone on his cell phone. At first, engrossed in talking about events and doujinshi, Yukihime and the others didn’t seem to mind. But then, they noticed Kusaka looking their way.

“He merely stared at me. I wondered what was going on, and then he suddenly yelled at me to be quiet. The restaurant was full and noisy so I didn’t pay much attention. I felt bad, thinking that I had interrupted his call. I tried to apologize, but Ame had beaten me to it.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” Ame bowed slightly to Kusaka. She went on, “Excuse me, but this is a non-smoking area.”

Seemingly taken aback, Kusaka stared at Ame. Ame looked back calmly. The staring match continued for several minutes.

Yukihime, who was nearby, was nervous, and Madoka sighed. But after a while, Kusaka admitted his mistake and apologized.

“And that’s how our conversation with Kusaka-san started.”

After they finished introducing themselves, Kusaka spoke about various topics. At first, Yukihime nodded along, but when the topic began to cover religion and modern criminology, she couldn’t keep up. In the end, only Ame was conversing with Kusaka. Madoka, who disliked men, didn’t pay any heed at all and was silently reading doujinshi.

“I guess Kusaka-san was talking to Ame from the start.”

Ame didn’t seem to be interested in the conversation and gave businesslike responses. Nevertheless, Kusaka seemed serious. He was deeply impressed when he heard Ame’s opinion.

Their conversation was cut short when Kusaka’s cell phone rang, and that was the end of it.

“At that time, Kusaka-san treated us. So, I thought he was a pretty nice guy, and then...”

Later, Kusaka called Ame. It seemed that he had looked up Ame’s home address and phone number from her name.

In this day and age, anyone could obtain as much personal information as they wanted simply by paying money.

“It seems that Kusaka-san took a liking to Ame. I heard from Hikaru-chan before that he still sends her letters every now and then.”

“What are those letters about?”

“No idea.”

“What does Ame think about this Kusaka guy?”

“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”

“No. I’m not interested in Kusaka-san.”

She was quite clear about that.

Jyuu gave up and carefully read the document.

Kusaka Seiji was 24 years old and worked for a major pharmaceutical company.

He was of good behavior and had no criminal record. There were also no suspicious rumors about him. Not only was he well-liked in the neighborhood, Eri was also fond of him, so he was quickly removed from the suspect list. Another reason was that Kusaka Seiji had no connection whatsoever with the victim of the second incident that happened afterwards.

It was certainly difficult to imagine that Kusaka Seiji would have a motive to attack 34 children, including his own relative.

Though feeling somewhat uneasy, Jyuu looked up from the documents.

Clasping her hands behind her head, Yukihime casted a sidelong glance at Jyuu.

“Hey, why don’t we introduce ourselves to each other again?”

“Why?”

“You’d be worried if you didn’t know that, wouldn’t you? You’d be in big trouble if you were double-crossed at the last minute.”

“I’ll deal with it when it happens.”

“Ah, youth.”

“...”

“There are a lot of things I want to ask you too, Jyuuzawa-kun. For example, how does it feel to be called ‘Jyuu-sama’ by Ame? Does it feel good?”

“None of your business.”

“It is my business now.”

“Are you serious about this?”

“Of course.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

“That’s rude. I may be like this, but an old woman neighbor once praised my seriousness.”

“When was that?”

“When I was five.”

“That was over ten years ago!”

“So what? People don’t change that much.”

It might’ve been a mistake to team up with her...

Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now.

Whether she knew how Jyuu felt or not, Yukihime continued to talk at her own pace.

“Well, we’ll gradually deepen our relationship, so let’s talk about something else for now. Who do you think the culprit is, Jyuuzawa-kun?”

Jyuu had a few ideas about that. On the day he met Kagami Sakura, a man incessantly spoke to her. What was that man up to? If Jyuu had known, he would’ve caught him and handed him over to the police. Although Jyuu didn’t know if he was the culprit, that man was definitely suspicious.

“The culprit is a pervert. A weirdo, basically.”

“Hm, could be.”

“But for a simple weirdo, he’s too skilled at kidnapping, it’s concerning.”

“Isn’t kidnapping easy?”

“Really?”

Yukihime nodded and grabbed Jyuu’s right wrist. Before he knew it, she was right behind him. She twisted his right arm, and covered Jyuu’s nose and mouth with her left hand. Just like that, Jyuu was immobilized.

“See? Easy, right? All I have to do next is throw you into a van parked nearby, and we’re done. If there are about three people waiting in the car, even a physically strong boy in his late teens can’t escape. You can also use a stun gun, or sleeping drugRs that can put someone to sleep after one or two inhalations. Kidnapping is a lot easier than people think, and even more so if the victim is a small child.”

After releasing Jyuu, Yukihime explained like nothing had happened.

“...I see.”

While rubbing the wrist that Yukihime had grabbed, it occurred to Jyuu. Even if Yukihime’s strength was only average, this would happen to Jyuu if he was caught off guard.

Yukihime was right—it would be easier if the child was around six years old. It wasn’t difficult to kidnap someone without allowing them to scream.

“You seem used to it.”

“Do you know how many rape victims there are each year, Jyuuzawa-kun? You can’t defend yourself without knowing the perpetrator’s methods to an extent. This is common sense for a girl living in the city. I’m careful about a lot of things, especially since I live alone.”

Jyuu was also convinced.

“I get that kidnapping isn’t that difficult, but isn’t that still too many? Thirty-four cases in total. How is it possible that there were so many of them, yet there were hardly any witnesses?”

“Hmm, I suppose so.”

Yukihime raised the fingers of her right hand one by one.

“There are four possibilities. First, the culprit is a lucky guy who just happens to have good luck. Second, the culprit is incredibly smart and has a perfect plan. Third, the culprit is using some kind of superpower. The fourth is...”

Yukihime stopped midway, but no matter how long Jyuu waited, she never finished her words.

“What’s the fourth?”

“Ah, I forgot. Sorry, sorry,” Yukihime apologized. “Thinking about difficult things isn’t my strong suit.”

“Well, the third is definitely impossible.”

“I guess so. If someone has the superpower to steal other people’s eyeballs, he would’ve joined some organization a long time ago. It’s impossible that he would still be on the loose.”

Jyuu didn’t mean “impossible” in that sense, but he didn’t correct her. As a friend of Ame, Yukihime’s mind was probably full of fantastical things.

“The first one is also highly unlikely. The second one would be the most plausible.”

It’s going too well for it to have been a series of good luck.

The culprit must be a sharp-witted person who also had a screw loose. The kind of person who could carry out deranged acts without going crazy.

“I bet he’s just some kind of guy who wants to vent his twisted negative emotions.”

“I don’t think there’s any positive or negative emotions.”

“Really?”

“Something can be lost through hope, and something can be born from despair. It’s dangerous to make sweeping generalizations.”

Although Jyuu wasn’t sure about how serious Yukihime was, he felt like she had a point. Her way of thinking somewhat resembled Ame’s. Maybe that was why they were still friends.

“What do you think the culprit’s motive is? The police seem to agree that he has some sordid tastes.”

“I wonder what it is.”

He recalled the incident before summer vacation.

The culprit’s motive at the time was incomprehensible. Following his own rules, he committed murders based on the weather forecast.

I wonder if the Gouger is like that too?

Do they act according to some rules?

The culprit would kidnap young children and steal their eyeballs. No matter what the reason for that, Jyuu had no intention of forgiving them. He couldn’t forgive something like that.

—And so, the first step in steady work began.

***

A boring math class. Although Jyuu would usually be asleep, his brain was pumping today. That said, none of his thoughts had anything to do with the class. To sort out his mind, he wrote in a blank notebook. Of course, he also wasn’t copying the blackboard.

The Gouger would carve out children’s eyes.

For what purpose?

What is the culprit’s motive?

Having written that much, he looked up and twirled his mechanical pencil between his fingers. He stared at the math teacher who seemed about to retire. The sunlight streaming in through the window reflected off the teacher’s white hair, making it seem a bit dazzling.

The Gouger didn’t seem to do it for prank or for fun. Maybe he was someone with the worst hobby, who got off seeing children lose their eyes. Even so, why would the culprit take it to this point?

Thirty-four was too many. What possible reasons could there be?

What a horrid thought...

Jyuu was starting to feel disgusted at himself for seriously pondering why children’s eyes were taken away.

Towards the end of the summer vacation, when Jyuu had recovered from his injuries and was discharged from the hospital, Ame said to him:

“’When you look at the abyss, the abyss stares back at you.’ These are the words of an old wise man. It is a warning to those involved in such things that, unless they clearly define their standing, they may eventually become tainted by the same kind. So, Jyuu-sama, please be careful. Always be sure which side you are on."

At that time, Jyuu thought she was exaggerating. He could finally understand what she was trying to say, somewhat.

I see, if I keep doing this, I’ll eventually be able to understand the mind of a criminal. It’ll invade part of my thinking and take up residence in my brain.

It was said that some scholars who studied criminal psychology came to understand violent criminals by tracing their thought patterns. Apparently, some of those scholars seriously appealed to the public to protect the human rights of a man who raped and strangled 100 women.

One might think that they could just distance themselves from their research subject and think about it in a practical way from the beginning. However, was it possible to work seriously while being practical?

At that time, the teacher was about to call someone to solve the problem on the blackboard. Noticing that the teacher was eyeing him, Jyuu quickly averted his gaze.

Another student sitting next to him was called, and stood up and went to the blackboard.

Jyuu dropped his gaze to his notebook again. Was it the “child’s eyes” that the criminal was obsessed with, or the “act of stealing a child’s eyes”? If the stolen child’s eyes had a use, what would it be?

What if they were used in some kind of religious ritual?

He felt like he had seen something along that line in an occult movie. The criminal was a devout lunatic who wanted to try the ritual.

Or maybe that religion is real?

The culprit could be a collector. When the culprit’s refrigerator was opened, it was filled with eyeballs stolen from children. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie.

What if there were more than one culprit? The crimes were too skillful to be committed by a single psychopath. It would’ve been more likely for them to have a partner to plan and execute the kidnapping and release of the children.

Was it possible for psychopaths to band together?

From what he could infer from the documents, a considerable number of suspects had been arrested and thoroughly interrogated, but they all had been found innocent. There had been no solid evidence either. No clues linking them to the culprit had been found to this date. The intervals and locations of the crimes varied without a set pattern.

Who is doing it, and how? To kidnap a child, remove their eyeballs, and then release them. A criminal—or rather criminals, could do something like that in about a day.

No matter how he looked at it, there was no way they could keep it up for long without getting caught by the police.

“Jyuuzawa, try answering the seventh question.”

When called on by his math teacher, Jyuu slowly stood up and muttered.

“I don’t know...”

“Sit down.”

Even though he was told with an unpleasant look, Jyuu muttered again as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“I don’t know.”

What was the criminal thinking, and how did they manage to carry on?

***

During lunch break, after quickly finishing his lunch, Jyuu decided to step foot into a certain place for the first time since he enrolled. The library. He went down to the second floor, crossed the corridor, and headed to the end of the school building.

He was greeted by silence. At the sound of the door opening, all the students reacted by turning their attention to Jyuu. When they realized it was Jyuuzawa Jyuu, they all looked away.

There were more students spending their lunch break in the library than he thought. To students who preferred to read and had little to do with Jyuu, his presence would only be a nuisance.

Jyuu walked up to the reception desk and called out to the female librarian there.

“Hey.”

“...Y-yes?”

She took two steps back from the reception desk.

All the eyes around him were asking “what is barbaric like you doing here? Do not approach us.”

It was a normal reaction for students at that school.

Only Ame had no fear for Jyuu.

Jyuu tried to force a smile—something he clearly wasn’t good at. Then, he spoke as calmly as possible.

“I’m looking for a book. Tell me where it is.”

“O-of course...”

Although she seemed reluctant, the female librarian didn’t abandon her work. She used the computer on her desk and prepared to search which bookshelf the book was on.

“What’s the title?”

“Anything’s fine so long as it’s a mystery.”

“Even if you say that...”

“I want to read something that deals with an impossible crime. Find me something that’s short, simple, and easy to read. Please.”

The female librarian responded well to such a difficult request. Perhaps, she was afraid that Jyuu would get angry. Instead of using the computer, she used her own knowledge and pulled out two mystery novels from the bookshelf and presented them to him.

“I think these are good.”

“Is it easy to read?”

“Even elementary school students can comprehend it.”

Even though it could be taken as an insult, Jyuu simply thanked her and accepted the books. He sat at the edge of the table where other students were reading, earning annoyed looks from them. Paying them no heed, he opened one of the books.

He started by reading the synopsis. All the kanji came with furigana, making it easy to read. After reading the details of the incident, Jyuu skipped to the last page and read the solution. It was against the rules of enjoying a mystery, but he didn’t care about that. Jyuu consumed both books in the same way.

It was his first time reading a mystery, and he wasn’t sure if it was interesting.

An impossible crime occurred, a detective character investigated, found the culprit, and the story ended. That was the basic flow.

What Jyuu wanted to know was what kind of impossible crimes there were and how they were solved.

The crimes written in the books were all bizarre and unimaginable. The detective character solved the cases brilliantly.

If there was one thing he learned from it, it was that no matter how impossible a crime may seem, it could always be solved.

With that in mind, there was no way that a crime that occurred in the real world, which was far more restricted than the world of fiction, couldn’t be solved. It wasn’t like it involved supernatural powers, such as aliens or psychics.

The perpetrators were humans. The victims were humans. So, was there any reason why humans couldn’t solve the crime?

It should be possible to explain the crime. The reason he didn’t understand it was because he hadn’t thought about it.

Having gained courage from the mystery novel, Jyuu took it to the reception desk and thanked the female librarian once again.

“You saved me there. Thanks.”

“Y-you’re welcome...”

Holding the books that Jyuu had returned to her, the female librarian’s eyes widened in surprise. Jyuu, the worst delinquent at school, feared by the upperclassmen, had just thanked her. She must’ve not seen that coming.

“Jyuuzawa-kun is unexpectedly...”

“Huh?”

“Nothing. See you later.”

As usual, women were difficult to understand. Then again, just before summer break, he was involved in a murder case. Did that worsen his image somehow?

The students had cleared a path for him, and he walked along it. Jyuu opened the door to the library.

There stood Ochibana Ame.

“Jyuu-sama.”

“...Hey. What a coincidence...”

Ame was holding a book to her chest, perhaps wanting to return it. It seemed to be a novel, and the title was “Cannibal’s Love.”

“It’s unusual for you to come here, Jyuu-sama.”

“I just thought it might be a good idea to read a book once in a while.”

“Did you find a good book?”

“Well, I found out that book and I aren’t a good match.”

To avoid meeting her eyes, Jyuu looked at his watch. There were ten minutes of lunch break.

“Anyway, I’m heading back to class.”

As Jyuu began to walk away, Ame called out to him.

“Jyuu-sama.”

He hated himself for instinctively stopping when he should’ve just ignored her.

“What is it?”

“Are you close with Yukihime?”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that...”

“I see.”

Is it just my imagination?

Ame’s voice sounded less lively than usual. On a second look, she did seem a bit low-spirited.

“Do you have a cold?”

“No.” Ame shook her head.

Then is it because I said I was going out with Yukihime?

No way. Jyuu denied it. It couldn’t be. They weren’t like that.

Still, he somehow felt that she looked depressed.

“Next time, if you find an interesting read, tell me all about it.” Said Jyuu.

“You won’t read it?”

“You’re a good speaker. Besides, listening is easier than reading.”

It was a very selfish reason, but Ame didn’t seem to mind. If anything, it seemed like she had regained a little bit of her vitality.

“...Okay. If the opportunity arises, I’ll definitely do it.”

“Yeah, I’ll leave it to you.”

Jyuu said goodbye to Ame and went to the classroom.

***

It was the second day since they started to act based on the information they had gathered.

Jyuu and Yukihime were visiting a park in the residential area. It was an old bed town surrounded by several housing complexes.

More residents came with more children. Some scholars claimed that Japanese population was slowly beginning to decline due to the declining birthrate. But as far as Jyuu could see, it didn’t seem to be the case just yet.

During that evening, children were running around happily in the park. Parents were hanging out with their acquaintances. They would casually keep an eye on their children, so it should be fine.

Some parents, however, seemed to be engrossed in conversation, completely forgetting their children.

“Hey, Jyuuzawa-kun! Over here!”

Yukihime beckoned Jyuu while sitting on the swing.

Jyuu had no choice but to go in that direction, walking forward while paying close attention to his surroundings.

This was where the second incident had occurred. It was just around this time, when the park was filled with children and housewives returning from shopping. Among them, a child had disappeared. The child was released the next day, and was found in the parking lot of an apartment complex. His eyeballs had also been stolen.

According to the documents, there were many testimonies of suspicious people seen at the time. However, most of them were office workers or delivery people on their way home, so all were false.

The crime took place when the parents happened to take their eyes off the child. Looking at the circumstances, it couldn’t be dismissed as impossible. It was unlikely for the parents to notice that their child had disappeared from here.

Jyuu sat down on the swing next to Yukihime, quietly kicking the ground.

Yukihime spoke as she swung happily on the swing.

“Did you know? Statistics say that in America, less than 30% of families have both parents and children.”

“That’s tough.”

“If that’s the fate of developed countries, will Japan end up like that soon?”

“My family has been like that for a long time.”

“Are your parents divorced, Jyuuzawa-kun?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s your father like?”

“I don’t know much about him.”

“What about your mother?”

“She’s a weird old hag.”

“Do you dislike her?”

“My feelings for her can’t be described.”

“Oh, you have such a troubled adolescence.”

Jyuu kept looking at his surroundings while talking to Yukihime. It didn’t result in anything. If there was a clue here, the police would’ve found it first.

Jyuu didn’t think it was pointless to look around the scene of the incident. At the same time, he didn’t know how useful it would be.

All Jyuu noticed was that there were a few children playing who seemed to be overwhelmed by their glasses. They clearly didn’t need those glasses.

Parents must’ve believed the theory that “children who were glasses wouldn’t be targeted by the Gouger,” which was once reported in a weekly magazine, and forced their children to wear them.

It wasn’t a very credible theory, so only a minority of people believed it.

He wondered if the presence or absence of glasses was a criterion for the Gouger to select children.

Certainly, all the children who had been targeted so far didn’t wear glasses.

Is there some reason behind this? What did the culprit think?

“Even though you’re alone with such a cute girl, you don’t seem too happy.”

“Is it six o’clock already?”

“Wow, he straight up ignored me.”

Jyuu kicked the ground, wildly swinging the swing to match Yukihime’s height. The headwind on his face felt good. He was reminded, just a little, of the pride he felt back when he was a child.

“Jyuuzawa-kun, do you have something in mind?”

“Not really.”

“I see. But I don’t think your actions so far are pointless.”

“I don’t need any consolation.”

“I’m not consoling you. At least, we can prevent more incidents from happening by doing this, right? With people like us patrolling, it’ll be difficult for the culprit to make a move.”

“I don’t think they’ll do it in the same place twice.”

“It seems that everyone else thinks the same.”

Yukihime shifted her gaze to the housewives, who were chatting away.

“That’s why they’re not so cautious and neglect their children.”

It had been more than two years since the second incident, which took place in this very park. While they could criticize them for not maintaining the same sense of danger they felt then, that was probably what most mothers were like.

The park wasn’t closed, and the sense of danger faded with time, and now the scene was peaceful.

Living in fear for a long time would take a huge toll on both the body and mind, so perhaps this was just the natural course of events.

“Depravity sure is great.”

“You...”

Jyuu was about to say something to Yukihime when he noticed a group of children gathering around the swing.

The children were staring at them. They must’ve found a pair of highschoolers playing on a swing unusual, or just resentful that their swing had been taken away.

Jyuu planted his feet on the ground to stop the swing and casually asked.

“Do you guys know what the Gouger is?”

The children looked at each other.

“We do, right?”

“Yeah!”

“He will steal your eyes!”

“He’s so strong!”

To the children, The Gouger was on the same level as the Slit-Mouthed Woman and the Man-Faced Dog of the past. The cases of the Gouger definitely had an urban legend feel to them. Besides, parents probably decided that it’d be safer to explain that there were such ghosts, rather than such abnormal people.

Looking up at Jyuu’s wry smile, one of the children asked.

“Are you a couple?”

Children were quick to use words they’d learned from TV and manga. Next to Jyuu, who was at a loss for words, Yukihime answered.

“That’s right. We’re lovers.”

Yukihime coolly brushed off Jyuu’s glare and laughed out loud while swinging on the swing.

“Are you going to get married?”

“Of course.”

“No way!”

“Jyuuzawa-kun, you’re being cruel. What about the baby in my belly?”

“Don’t spout nonsense!”

When Jyuu screamed, the kids all started yelling, “Divorce! Divorce!”

Kids these days...

No, maybe he was like this when he was a kid too? Then how did he end up like this?

“So, how do you make a baby?”

“When two people who love each other sleep together...”

“Don’t give them unnecessary information!”

“Eeh, but it’s necessary...”

While playing with Yukihime and the children in the park until the skies were dyed red, Jyuu wondered.

Is this really okay?

***

The first Sunday since Jyuu started an investigation with Yukihime.

The two of them went to a department store in Tokyo. The weather was fine and sunny, so there were a lot of people. The place, mostly filled with parents and children, was bustling with life.

Smiles of people looking forward to enjoying their day off could be seen everywhere. Meanwhile, Jyuu was paying close attention to his surroundings with a stern expression as if going against the cheerfulness.

“Jyuuzawa-kun, the udon will get soggy.”

Yukihime, sitting across from Jyuu, slurped up the udon she had scooped from the bowl.

“You have to eat it while it’s still delicious.”

“...Yeah.”

Reluctantly, Jyuu focused on his meal.

Since they arrived around noon, they decided to have lunch. But when Jyuu suggested a hot dog, Yukihime insisted on eating udon. She pointed to the long line in front of the udon restaurant, adamant that they joined in.

After waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, they bought the udon and sat down to eat.

As expected of a fast-growing restaurant, the udon was delicious, yet Jyuu was still gloomy.

As far as he knew, it wasn’t time to be doing something like this.

At the same time, he also knew that there was no point in rushing.

In any case, they had to work steadily, without expecting significant results right off the bat.

It may be a futile task—one undertaken simply to feel the satisfaction of having done everything he could. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

Jyuu picked up the Styrofoam bowl and drank the udon soup. Despite her urging, Yukihime hadn’t finished eating yet. She had ordered a large portion.

Jyuu threw the bowl into the trash can and watched Yukihime eating. While her way of eating may not be vulgar, it was childish. The girl called Kirishima Yukihime seemed to have a lot of nuances.

“Do you like to eat?”

“Yes, I do. When I’m with someone I like, anything tastes good.”

It was still unclear how serious Yukihime was. Since the incident before the summer break, Jyuu had become a bit skeptical of the affection shown to him, just like right now.

“Aah, how delicious. Thank you for the meal.”

Putting her hands together in front of her chest, Yukihime threw the bowl in the trash.

Jyuu tried to move, but the place was so overcrowded, he couldn’t find a suitable space. As such, he decided to stay at the table for a while.

Here, too, an incident caused by the Gouger had occurred. It was Sunday lunchtime, and in a crowded situation just like at this moment, a child disappeared. He was released after his eyeballs were stolen.

With that many people, many children must’ve gotten separated from their parents and were lost. The staff must’ve got their hands full with them. Even now, calls for lost children were being made over the intercom.

Some children were holding hands with their parents, some were running around aimlessly, some were sleeping while clinging to the playground equipment, and some were playing hide-and-seek.

In such a situation, a small child could easily become lost.

Someone could’ve just made away with a sleeping child while pretending to be their parent and got away with it.

Not meddling in other people’s affairs was the rule in the city.

Even if something seemed a bit suspicious, people turned a blind eye and went about their own daily lives. That was just how people were.

“How nostalgic.”

Shielding her eyes from the dazzling sunlight, Yukihime stared off into the distance. Jyuu followed her gaze and saw children gathered in front of the stage. Behind them were their parents. It seemed like some kind of show was going on.

After waiting for a while, a catchy tune started playing from the speakers, and the children started humming along.

When Yukihime followed suit, Jyuu looked at her with a shocked look on his face.

“This is the theme song for the Uproarious Laughter Squad Jokeman. It’s not just about fighting, but also saving the world with comedy. I think it’s an interesting concept. The actors are all good-looking, so they’re very popular among housewives. I mean, they are soo handsome.”

“Aren’t the shows for kids?”

“No matter how old she is, a maiden is still a maiden.”

He might not have known the song, but he now knew that Yukihime was a good singer.

The show began. On the stage, a monster mascot was swinging giant scissors around, trying to scare the children. The children’s reactions were varied, some laughing, and some crying.

The parents watched their children from behind. Many families were indifferent to the show, but the speakers were so loud that children were inevitably drawn to it. Some disliked it and went away. He saw a child who wanted to stay being forcibly picked up by his parents to leave.

It seemed that there were more chances to kidnap a child than they expected.

Most people believed that Japan was basically safe. Even now, when violent crimes were steadily increasing, this belief didn’t change. It could even be said to be part of the national character.

Although Jyuu appreciated the peace-loving mentality, he wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do.

On the stage, heroes in colorful costumes appeared and began fighting the monsters. The children cheered, and the atmosphere became lively all at once.

“Back then, we thought heroes were real. We thought heroes that beat up the bad guys and protected everyone existed.”

“We were kids, after all.”

“But when I grew up, I realized the reality wasn’t like that. There are minions of evil in this world, but no heroes of justice.”

“That’s what it means to be an adult,” said Yukihime, watching the kids get excited at the hero show.

“Strange, isn’t it? Why do we make kids believe in things that don’t exist? Why do we make them believe in heroes of justice when they don’t exist anywhere?”

Jyuu couldn’t answer that question either.

Maybe for educational purposes? Maybe because it was good for children to believe in the existence of heroes?

At the same time, toy manufacturers used heroes as advertising slogans to sell their products. As such, it was ridiculous to expect any profound meaning behind them.

Then, were heroes ridiculous?

Even though minions of evil really existed. Even though they made people suffer. Even though they gouged out children’s eyes.

Then, are heroes ridiculous?

Jyuu didn’t think that was the case.

Once, Jyuu saw some guys picking a fight with an elderly man with a lame leg on the street. When he saw them stealing the latter’s wallet, Jyuu punched them without thinking.

Was it out of the sense of justice rooted in his heart? Was it the influence of a program he watched when he was young?

“Now that I think about it, I remember asking the old hag at home...”

‘Hey, Mom. Do heroes really exist?’

Jyuu remembered asking Benika that back in elementary school.

‘You fool. As if.’

Benika answered with a cigarette in her mouth. Perhaps because her son looked so pitiful, she added a little more.

‘—Listen, Jyuu. There are no heroes of justice in this world. But that’s okay. They don’t need to exist. In fact, there shouldn’t be any. Why? Because everyone will rely on them. Humanity will be doomed in that case. That’s why we don’t need heroes of justice. Precisely because there are no heroes of justice, we hate evil and love justice. That’s what we strive for.’

At that time, Jyuu didn’t even understand half of what Benika was saying, but now he felt like he did.

“Such a wonderful mother.”

“Once you meet her in person, you’ll change your mind. She’s selfish, super annoying, and inconsiderate... What?”

Yukihime rested her elbow on the table and looked at Jyuu with a smile.

“When you talk about your mother, you look like a child, Jyuuzawa-kun. It’s kind of cute.”

“Don’t joke around,” Jyuu said, rubbing his face with his palm.

Yukihime smiled gently.

“Jyuuzawa-kun is surprisingly serious. It’s a charm—but also a flaw.”

“Me? Serious?”

“I think you tend to overthink a bit, just like with this case. Sometimes, it just complicates the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“You should figure that out yourself.”

With a smile, Yukihime brushed Jyuu off.

It’d only been a short while since they met, but Yukihime had a really elusive personality. His first impression of her was a kind-hearted and airheaded girl, but she turned out to be stern and sharp-witted. The way she naturally made people have such a first impression made her terrifying. She even played the part of Ochibana Ame’s friend.

Yukihime was no ordinary girl. She possessed all sorts of tunes.

The theme song started playing from the speakers again. The show appeared to be over, but instead of leaving the stage, the children began forming a line. Leading the line was a hero wearing a red costume.

“Jyuuzawa-kun, why don’t you go too? We’ve come this far, after all.”

“Go where?”

“The handshake event.”

“Not a chance.”

“Hey, wait a minute!”

Ignoring Yukihime, who was chasing after him, Jyuu quickly left the area.

***

After leaving the department store, Jyuu took out some documents from his pocket. Yukihime pulled her baseball cap to avoid the sun.

“The next location is far from here.”

Looking at the address, it was about an hour by train. From there, they’d have to walk a little further.

The sun was still high in the sky, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

They started walking toward the station, but were soon engulfed in a wave of people. In front of the department store, a politician was making a speech on a promotional car. Jyuu’d seen his face on TV before, but couldn’t remember his name.

Surrounded by people who seemed to either be supporters or curious onlookers, Jyuu couldn’t move. Many shoppers were stuck, unable to move forward or backward.

With no other choice, Jyuu decided to head down into the less crowded underground passage. The air conditioning was slightly better there, so his sweating eased a little. As he walked along the road, something caught his eye.

Two people were walking along the edge of the passage, avoiding the fast-paced crowds typical of city dwellers.

It was a man and a little girl. Jyuu first noticed the girl, who was holding a white cane. The girl walked slowly, using the tip of her cane to feel for steps and walls along the path. Both of her eyes were closed. It was apparent that the girl was blind.

The man beside her, seemingly her guardian, was silently watching the girl walk.

Jyuu recognized the man—Kusaka Seiji.

That day, Jyuu couldn’t tell because he was looking at him from a distance. Kusaka Seiji was a man with thin-framed glasses and a slightly nervous look. He was also about the same height as Jyuu.

Jyuu recalled the face in the document and compared it to the girl Kusaka was with.

There was no doubt about it.

She was Kusaka Eri—the first child kidnapped by the Gouger. The incident happened when she was four, so she must be six now.

Jyuu’s heart started beating faster and his breathing became irregular. Yukihime slapped him on the back.

“Jyuuzawa-kun, relax.”

“I know.”

Regaining some composure, Jyuu followed Kusaka with his eyes. It became obvious that Kusaka Seiji was the same man he saw in front of Ame’s house. While Jyuu hesitated about what to do, Yukihime suddenly took action.

“Hello, Kusaka-san. It’s been a while.”

“You’re...”

Kusaka looked back and forth between Jyuu and Yukihime, then approached with a smile.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Kirishima-san?”

“You wrote letters to Ame, but not to me.”

“Well, that’s...”

Eri, who had heard their conversation, turned to Kusaka with confusion.

“It’s Uncle’s acquaintance.”

Eri waited quietly. Perhaps that explanation was enough to satisfy her.

“That guy over there is Jyuuzawa-kun, isn’t he?”

Kusaka spoke, as if to initiate with Jyuu, who didn’t know how to start.

“How did you know my name?”

“I heard a lot about you from Ochibana-san.”

“...From her?”

Ignoring Jyuu’s question, Kusaka said to Yukihime.

"It's embarrassing to be caught babysitting."

“C’mon now, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Is that Eri-san?”

“Yes, this is my niece, Eri. My sister went to visit her husband today, so I ended up accompanying her on a walk.”

Eri stood there quietly without saying anything.

Jyuu did get the impression that she was a quiet girl from the document. She also seemed to be quite intelligent, judging from the way she stayed out of the conversation.

When he was a kid, he couldn’t stand the incomprehensible conversations of adults. It was so unpleasant...

As Jyuu was thinking about this, a passerby ran and bumped into Eri’s shoulder, causing her cane to fall from her small hand. Eri tried to pick up the cane, only to lose her balance.

“Ah!”

Eri started panicking. Jyuu reached out and supported Eri just in time. Thankfully, he had good reflex. Jyuu glared sharply at Kusaka, who was watching from nearby.

“Why don’t you help her? Aren’t you her guardian?”

“You... I refuse to speak to someone so disrespectful to their elders.”

The tense atmosphere made Eri flustered, and Yukihime was quick on the uptake.

Yukihime bent down and brought her face closer to the girl so that they were at eye level.

“Hello, my name is Yukihime.”

Hearing the cheerful and gentle sound of her voice relaxed Eri somewhat.

“You’re beautiful. Eri-chan, how old are you?”

“Eh?”

“Here.”

Yukihime took out a candy from her pocket and placed it on Eri’s small palm. Eri was puzzled. But when she realized what it was, she gave a childlike smile.

Then, while Eri was stuffing her cheeks with the candy, Yukihime moved Eri out of the way. After that, she continued to entertain her.

Jyuu saw that from the corner of his eyes and thanked Yukihime inwardly.

She had created a situation where he could talk to Kusaka one-on-one.

“She has a talent for being a nursery teacher.”

After saying that, Kusaka turned away from Yukihime and Eri, and turned to Jyuu.

“So, what are you so angry about?”

“Why didn’t you help that child?”

“No reason.”

Kusaka spoke in a nonchalant tone. It was his genuine thought.

Jyuu was angry.

“You are not fit to be a guardian.”

“Should someone as immature as you be judging someone?”

"Sometimes, there are things only an immature person can understand."

“Then, let me ask you this. Do you know Ochibana Ame’s value?”

“Her... value?”

An unexpected question—something he’d never thought about before.

Seeing Jyuu’s confused look, Kusaka laughed out loud.

“Ha! How can an ordinary man like you know, anyway?!”

“Are you trying to pick a fight?!”

“What? You think I’ll be scared just because you’re screaming?”

Jyuu clenched his fist, and Kusaka also prepared himself, but Eri’s crying interrupted them.

Eri, who’d keenly sensed the tense atmosphere, started crying. Even though Yukihime tried to calm her down, she wouldn’t stop. Kusaka merely shrugged.

Swallowing his anger, Jyuu approached Eri.

“Sorry for scaring you.”

When Jyuu stroked her head, Eri flinched for a bit, but after a while, she seemed to calm down. Yukihime patted her head as she sniffled, saying, “I’m sorry.”

Watching them with a cold look, Kusaka said, “A while ago, Eri got involved in a small incident. Since then, she’s been like this. She cries a lot. It’s really annoying.”

Jyuu felt repulsed by Kusaka’s tone, which didn’t seem to be filled with any sympathy. He didn’t know what to say to that.

“Is it because of The Gouger?”

Yukihime didn’t hesitate to ask a difficult question.

Kusaka’s expression twisted in displeasure.

“Yes. What about it?”

“We’re looking for The Gouger.”

“You are...?”

Kusaka was stunned, but the next moment, he laughed out loud.

“Hey, Eri. These guys are looking for The Gouger, the one who stole your eyes. Say some words of encouragement to them.”

He’s so annoying!

As Jyuu clenched his fist, Eri sniffled and said, “...Really?”

Her voice was small yet serious.

“Are you really looking for him?”

“Yes.”

Jyuu nodded, but then recalled that she was blind, so he shook her petite hand.

“It’s true.”

“T-then... if you find him, please tell him...”

With tears streaming from her closed eyes, Eri expressed her wish.

“Please stop this already.”

She knew. She knew that she was only the first victim, and that the incidents had continued since then, and until this point. That there were many children like her.

“I understand.”

Jyuu grasped Eri’s hand with both his hands.

“When I find him, I’ll be sure to tell him that.”

Ever so slightly, a smile returned to Eri’s face. Jyuu was glad.

But the joy was short-lived.

“Well, do your best.” Kusaka sneered coldly from behind.

Forcibly pulling Eri away from Jyuu’s grasp, Kusaka ignored Jyuu and simply thanked Yukihime. Then, he walked down the underground passage. He blended into the crowd and soon disappeared from sight.

Jyuu clenched his fist. Not out of anger, but firm determination.

Let’s do this!

With renewed vigor, Jyuu started walking and Yukihime followed beside him with a smile.