Don't forget to read the first part, or the previous post if you haven't!
No image this time, because this will be the biggest post in a while. It'll cover around 300 lines of in-game text, so I need to save as much space as possible so that the blog doesn't lag too much while I'm writing this. Also, I have a kind of big announcement to make, but I'll keep it for the end of this post. So, let's begin, shall we?
Wednesday 3:44 PM
Hanamine Private High School
Someone's here.
A person is holding their hands in front of the sooty, lightning-struck Fox Mound.
They're Shouta Nozawa. Even after two years, his feelings for Misa Sakita have remained unchanged. His figure was heartbreaking.
"Nozawa-kun..."
"Kamiyama..."
Kamiyama appeared. As expected, she came here.
(Sir, should we take action?)
(...Let's wait and see a little longer.)
For the safety of the students, we should act immediately. However, the desire to see where this incident, which cannot be measured by common sense, will head towards prevailed.
"...Where you praying for Misa?"
"Yeah... What did you come here for?"
"You make it sound like I'm not allowed to be here. Misa and I used to be best friends."
"......"
"Nozawa-kun, how long are you going to keep holding onto Misa? Are you going to keep thinking only of Misa for the rest of your life?"
"...I do as I please. It's none of your business."
"It is! Because I... I love you!"
"Don't talk to me about that in here."
"Why!? You think Misa can hear us!? Misa's dead! Why can't you just forget about dead people!?"
"Stop it! Even after that, you would still call yourself Misa's friend!?"
"It's not just Misa! Hasebe, Itou, and Yamano were your friends too! Where you thinking that when they died too!?"
"When Misa died, you cried, didn't you? You comforted and cried with me, didn't you!? Was that all a lie!?"
"Did you really not care about Misa at all!?"
"I did care... Misa was a true friend..."
"But... everything changed when I found out about you."
"I couldn't help but love, love, love you! And then, I couldn't help but hate, hate, hate Misa!"
"That's why... That's why...!"
"That's why you used Mr. Kokkuri to drive Misa Sakita to suicide."
"Horikawa!?"
"Ms. Kamiyama... you fell in love with Nozawa-kun."
"Using Mr. Kokkuri, you relentlessly pressed Misa Sakita about her relationship with him."
"You were intensely jealous of Misa Sakita. You forced her to go along with playing Mr. Kokkuri, which she didn't want to do, and slowly drove her into a corner."
"Misa Sakita was betrayed by who she thought was her friend, you, and her body and spirit crumbled, then that accident happened..."
"W-what are you talking about? I don't know! I didn't do anything like that!"
"How could you know anything when you only just transferred here!?"
"Fufu. Your pretty face is wrinkling, Ms. Kamiyama. I bet you must be very upset to have the truth revealed in front of the person you love."
"You really love Nozawa-kun, don't you? But it's meaningless. His heart already belongs to Misa Sakita."
"What did you say!? You're the one who told me I could get my wish granted if I asked Mr. Kokkuri!"
"Ahahaha. You must love him greatly, after all, there's no way you would have fallen for such a ridiculous lie otherwise..."
"A lie...? A lie, you say...!? Then, what was playing Mr. Kokkuri all for...? What did Kaori and the others die for!?"
"Oh? Isn't that all your fault?"
UWAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
The voice of a beast that has lost its reason plays in concert with the thunder.
Horikawa's words broke the last hold that had held Kamiyama's heart together.
Kamiyama's left hand comes down on Horikawa's throat. She throws Horikawa's body as if she were throwing out a scrap of paper.
She then grabs Horikawa by the neck and hangs her in midair with one hand. Is that actually Yuka Kamiyama? It's hard to believe that a woman like her has the physical strength to do that.
Shouta Nozawa is unable to move very far. As it is, Horikawa's life is in danger. At the same time, Mr. Kogure and I jump out.
"Stop it, Kamiyama!"
"Get your hands off her!" As I shout, I grab her arm.
But she didn't even twitch. Her arm was as stiff as steel.
Mr. Kogure, who is attempting to bind her other arm behind her back, also seems astonished.
[Thump]
Kamiyama's left hand moved carelessly, yet swept us away with little effort.
"Shouta-kun..." I heard a faint voice escape from Horikawa's mouth as she was being strangled.
S h o u t a - k u n
Her voice seemed to reach Shouta Nozawa, still frozen in place.
"Kamiyama!!"
The transformed Kamiyama responded to the voice of the one she loved. However, at that moment---
Horikawa, who we thought had fainted, looked at Kamiyama with a pleased expression on her face.
A piece of wood was thrust deep into Kamiyama's side.
[Thump]
The beast was sprawled on the ground. Horikawa slowly raised the piece of wood, still trying to put the finishing blow on her prey.
"Stop, Misa!"
Horikawa stopped moving. We forgot to intervene and watched with bated breath as the situation unfolded.
"Misa! You're Misa, aren't you!?"
"What are you talking about, Shouta-kun? That person, I don't know them..."
"...That's fine as well. Just, listen to me. Please."
"It was me who caused Kamiyama to betray Misa. Kamiyama may have driven Misa to suicide, but I was the one who caused her change."
"Both Misa and Kamiyama said they were true friends. If it weren't for me, Misa wouldn't have died. Kamiyama wouldn't have had to suffer."
"...That's quite the conceited notion, Nozawa-kun."
"If you want to kill Kamiyama for revenge, then kill me!"
"......!"
"...I can't live like this anymore. I will keep blaming myself, carrying this guilt. I might even kill myself eventually..."
"If so, that's fine with me. Then I might be able to see Misa."
"...Come on. If you're going to kill someone, kill me."
"Nozawa-kun. Do you still love Misa Sakita?"
A momentary hesitation. But Shouta Nozawa looked straight into Horikawa's eyes and answered.
"...I love her. From here on, all the time..."
"Fufu. It doesn't have to be all the time. If you remember once in a while, that's enough..."
A single tear fell from Horikawa's eye along with the first genuine smile she showed.
"Thank you, Shouta-kun..."
Mari Horikawa and Shouta Nozawa fainted and fell to the ground. But everything that had happened, I just couldn't understand it.
My confused thoughts finally led me to an answer. "Mr. Kogure, call an ambulance!"
"Y-yessir!"
Unable to accept the reality of what had just happened in front of our eyes, we stood there.
But we can't just sit around in a daze. We have to get this whole case in order...
[Inference Logic time!]
(Verification 1)
Misa Sakita's death is at the core of the case. What triggered it?
>Suicide >Curse >Traffic Accident >Bullying >Homicide
Since we've basically solved the case last chapter, I'll just show the answers I chose, and won't write my thought process like this unless it's necessary.
>Bullying
(Verification 2)
How did the perpetrator make one student after another commit suicide?
>Self-suggestion >Curse >Revenge >Precognition >Guilt
>Self-suggestion
(Verification 3)
What was the culprit's motive?
>Friends >Fox Possession >Revenge >Romantic Feelings >Wish
>Revenge
(Verification 4)
Who is responsible for this series of suicides?
>Mari Horikawa >Yuka Kamiyama >Shouta Nozawa >Misa Sakita
>Mari Horikawa
[These are all the verifications this time, but we still have some other blanks to fill. In these other blanks, each option has a small description, they also have a "leave empty" option.]
>Fox Possession >Track and Field Club [This one is also correct, btw]
>Ouija Board (The person who attempted to burn the Ouija board was Yamano.)
>Ouija Board >Blood
>Wish (The blood ritual was necessary to grant their wishes.)
>Friends >Curse >Childhood Friends
>Romantic Feelings (Yuka Kamiyama loved Shouta Nozawa.)
>Classmates >Friends >Childhood Friends
>Romantic Feelings (Misa Sakita and Shouta Nozawa loved each other.)
>Romantic Feelings
>Friends (My brother and Ms. Hitomi are friends.)
>Friends >Childhood Friends
>Plaything (Mr. Kogure is my brother's plaything.)
[This makes everything complete. You can see all the connections in English in the images below, sorry if the quality isn't as good as the profiles I translated, my Photoshop license's over.]
[Now, let's confirm everything]
(Verification 1)
Misa Sakita's death is at the core of this case. It was "bullying" that triggered it.
Details of the bullying can be read in the diary of Misa Sakita, found in the Police History Archival Office.
One could say that this incident began with her death.
(Verification 2)
How did the culprit make the students commit suicide one after the other? Perhaps it was due to using "self-suggestion", or "hypnotism", through Mr. Kokkuri.
Ms. Hitomi assured us that Mr. Kokkuri does not have the power to kill people.
However, the reality shows that as many as three students committed suicide.
By making them believe that Mr. Kokkuri was Misa Sakita herself, Mari Horikawa succeeded in driving her tormentors to commit suicide.
(Verification 3)
The killer's motive was "revenge" against those who drove Misa Sakita to her death.
Paradoxically, this is evidenced by the fact that the female students who bullied Misa Sakita died one after another.
Narumi Hasebe... Kaori Itou... Keiko Yamano...
And finally, Yuka Kamiyama...
All of them were students involved in the bullying of Misa Sakita.
(Verification 4)
Now then, who is the culprit? The answer is "Mari Horikawa".
This is still a matter of conjecture, but perhaps Horikawa had a strong bond with Misa Sakita. Either as blood relatives, close friends, or even...
In any case, that will be revealed in a future investigation.
[All correct!]
Several days later---
Despite all those incidents, Hanamine Private High School has returned to its normal school life as if nothing had happened.
Although some information definitely should have already been leaked to the press, the TV, newspapers, and even gossip magazines refused to mention the events that took place here.
Mari Horikawa was rushed to Kamone University Hospital, where she received immediate medical attention and survived.
According to her parents, she underwent heart transplant surgery two years ago and only this year was able to return to school.
I inquired about Misa Sakita but found no relatives of Horikawa with the same name.
When Horikawa regained consciousness, she lost all memory of the past few months, including of being transferred to Hanamine High.
Ms. Hitomi told me that she had "partial memory loss due to cranial trauma".
I asked about the possibility of her memories returning, but the answer was very vague: sometimes they would remember tomorrow, and sometimes they wouldn't remember for good.
Shouta Nozawa was acquitted after an interview. The school did not punish him in any way, but he reportedly locked himself in his room and became depressed.
And then there is Yuka Kamiyama. Like Mari Horikawa, she was supposed to be taken to Kamone University Hospital, but disappeared without a trace.
Not only her. The ambulance that carried her, the paramedics, they were all gone.
A nationwide manhunt was arranged to locate her, but so far no one has been able to trace her whereabouts, almost as if she had been spirited away. The search is currently underway for her disappearance and abduction.
For that reason, the assault case against Mari Horikawa was suspended until she was found.
"Junya-kun, a moment?" I scurry around to find the owner of the voice and find Ms. Hitomi beckoning to me from the shadow of a pillar.
Mr. Kogure and I looked at each other and approached Ms. Hitomi.
"Don't ask me where I got it from. It's not from a channel I can proudly tell you about."
We couldn't decide whether we should be grateful as detectives or cautionary, so we just replied with a curt "huh" and accepted the medical records.
But the moment we opened the chart, that absent-minded response was transformed into a cry of astonishment.
Donor (Organ Provider): Misa Sakita
Recipient (Transplant Applicant): Mari Horikawa
A chill ran down my spine. Misa Sakita's heart had been transplanted into Mari Horikawa.
They were neither relatives nor friends. The bond that united them was a single organ.
"I'm not going to tell you that I believe in the occult, just for the record. I'm just showing you the facts as they are."
With these words, Ms. Hitomi left. She left us standing there in a daze...
And then, another few days later---
...As explained above, this incident can be explained by the scientific keyword of "autosuggestion".
Unfortunately, however, it's difficult to explain the cruel manner in which the girls died, the disappearance of the blood from their bodies, and the mysterious vanishing of Yuka Kamiyama.
Later, it was discovered that Misa Sakita and Mari Horikawa did not know each other.
Ordinarily, in the case of organ transplantation, it's impossible for the recipient (transplant applicant) to learn information about the donor (organ provider).
Misa Sakita and Mari Horikawa. What brought together two people born and raised completely separate from each other was a transplanted "heart".
Claire Sylvia, who performed a heart-lung transplant in the United States in 1988, wrote in her book, "By receiving an organ transplant, the recipient also receives the donor's soul".
The heart is written as 'the organ of the soul'. [心臓 = heart (organ); 心 = heart, soul, mind; 臓 = internal organ, viscera] Did Mari Horikawa end up inheriting Misa Sakita's vengeful spirit through her heart transplant...?
"Phew..." I rested my hand on the keyboard and took a breather.
I'm off duty today for the first time in a while, but I've only been staring at my computer at home to clear my head.
"When the Chief reads this report, he'll be overjoyed to see me go."
But, I am going to submit this report. I have no intention of holding on to my current position by distorting what I have seen and heard.
It would be an insult to the victims of this incident to cover facts, however unscientific, with fiction.
If you don't like the report, then demote me, fire me, or do whatever you want.
"Alright!" I started tapping on my keyboard again.
This incident was my first experience in the field. It was far harsher and more difficult than I could have possibly imagined.
Two girls fell in love with a boy. Love drove one of the girls mad, and friendship turned to hatred. Then many people became victims.
---It was too cruel and sad a case.
[Wideshot of the MPD building]
The morning following my break. I came to work with the report I had written and prepared to be fired, but what awaited me was a letter of transfer.
"...Well, that's how it is."
Huh, isn't that strange? I still haven't sent in my report.
I felt caught off guard.
However, the Chief, seemingly not caring what was on my mind, casually shoved the letter of transfer into my hands and quickly returned to his own desk.
When I looked down at the letter of resignation handed to me, I saw an unbelievable array of letters.
Lieutenant Junya Kazami has been assigned to the Police History Archival Office as of today.
I must have been frozen stiff for at least 30 seconds, and even the Chief gave me a sympathetic look.
The Police History Archival Office... Speaking of it, that fifth basement floor...
Why was I transferred to that place? In the first place, it wasn't functional at all, was it?
My steps toward the isolated underground world were heavy, and not just because of my imagination.
I'd rather be fired than be forced into a dusty, closed room like that.
With these thoughts in mind, I went down to the fifth basement floor where the Police History Archival Office is located.
"Sir!"
"Uwah! M-mr. Kogure!?"
"Yes, sir! It's been a while!" Mr. Kogure bowed with a big smile.
"I too have been assigned to the Police History Archival Office, sir. I look forward to working with you in the future. Thank you!"
For even Mr. Kogure to be assigned to this place...
It's too sudden. Moreover, we've been assigned to a department that we'd never heard of until recently. I can only assume that some kind of great influence exerted itself on the top brass.
"Um, sir?"
"Yes?"
"To tell you the truth, the Archival Office has been, uh... acting very strangely."
"Strange?" Mr. Kogure said there was a light leaking from the room, and that he could hear people's voices coming from inside.
I then remembered the rumors about the Archival Office.
"...It is said that, sometimes, you can hear voices coming from the supposedly concrete-filled fifth basement floor."
"They say that a detective who died in the line of duty is still working on cases, even after death..."
[Wideshot of the door, including the fluorescent light above it]
"Let's go." Accompanied by Mr. Kogure, I stood in front of the Office's door.
A plate affixed to the dirty iron door bears the words "Police History Archival Office".
Up to this point, nothing had changed from how it was the other day. However, as Mr. Kogure said, a light was leaking from inside the room, and what sounded like human voices could be heard.
"S-sir." Mr. Kogure came up behind me, looking concerned. His large body had shrunk to about one size smaller than usual.
"I'm opening it." With determination, I turned the doorknob.
"...just now rounding the second turn, and five horses are battling for the lead."
"The orange cap, Samurai Agnes holds the lead by a small margin, with Kojima Hustle just behind, in the second place..."
Live horse racing? This BGM isn't appropriate for a room in a police station.
The Police History Archival Office. This is the second time I've been in this room.
However, what I saw now was a room that seemed to be in good working order, if not quite spotless.
There were no scattered papers, no dust, no corpses of starved-to-death insects.
...Am I dreaming?
"...Oh ho! Izumi Animal has made a move at the last corner!"
The horse race was still being broadcasted. I don't know much about horse racing, but I could tell from the announcer's enthusiastic voice that the race was in its final stages.
"Izumi Animal has passed! Izumi Animal has passed! Can Samurai Agnes outrun her!?"
"Izumi Animal! It's Izumi Animal! Izumi Animal won---!!!"
"YEAAHHH!!"
A woman stood up triumphantly, not even noticing us, and thanked God, Buddha, Ebisu-sama [The Shinto god of fishing and commerce], and all the gods in an unrestrained manner.
She was about 30 years old. I could not tell her exact age due to her energetic appearance. Actually, she might be around 40.
"Ah, um..." I called out to her like a child who had wandered into an unfamiliar world.
"Hm? Who're y'all?" I wanted to ask similarly in return but decided not to. If I had done that, the conversation wouldn't have moved forward.
"This place is the MPD, right?" I thought it was a stupid question, but I had to check.
"More or less." I guess I'm more or less in the MPD then.
If so, this must still be the Police History Archival Office. I bowed respectfully and greeted her.
"I am Lieutenant Junya Kazami, assigned to the Police History Archival Office as of today! I look forward to working with you!"
"Similarly, I'm Sergeant Souichirou Kogure, ma'am!" The woman watching the live racing broadcast looked at us as if we were rare animals.
Although she doesn't wear makeup at all, I wouldn't hesitate to say she's beautiful. [Junya, please... can you not immediately think "she's kinda hot tho" whenver you see a woman?]
"I didn't think it was possible, no way would someone actually show up. What was he thinking bringing in two kids like that just because we were short on staff?"
It was a very unwelcoming line. The woman introduced herself with a resigned sigh, "Oh weeellll."
"I'm Ranko Indou. You write "Indou" with 'In', like a doggy, and 'dou', like in Shuten-douji. [Her name is written with the kanji for dog (犬) and for youth/child (童), also, 'In' isn't a typical reading of the dog kanji, but that's common for characters used in names.] My rank's Inspector."
"I-I-I-Inspector!?"
"That's right, Inspector" Perhaps amused by Mr. Kogure's reaction, Inspector Indou laughed in amusement.
"Well, I know you're going through a lot, but hang in there." A piece of paper fell from the pocket of the Inspector as she turned away.
"Ah, Inspector---"
The wind whipped by. My outstretched hand grips the empty air.
"Big thanks." Inspector Indou stuffed the piece of paper in her hand into her pocket haphazardly. As if nothing had happened...
"Sir, that move, no ordinary person could make that." Mr. Kogure, who holds a third dan in judo, a third dan in kendo, and a second dan in karate, was absolutely sure of what he was saying.
But I saw something more interesting than that.
For a brief moment, the piece of paper that the Inspector had almost dropped looked just like the talisman from that day.
[A phone rings]
A black phone's bell rings, interrupting my thoughts.
It was easy to guess who was on the other end of the phone.
I put my ear to the receiver and, as expected, I hear that man's voice.
"Welcome. To the Police History Archival Office..."
Comprehensive Evaluation: S Class
Episode One - Mr. Kokkuri - End
"Now then... How did this story strike you?"
What an unbelievable case. This series of suicides related to Mr. Kokkuri, as told by the man. Not to mention the melodramatic tragedy that waited at the end.
But, the man's skillful storytelling did make me feel as if I myself was a party to the incident.
"Negative human emotions, such as resentment and hatred, sometimes cause strange occurrences that cannot be explained by science."
"The extraordinary, such as spirits and curses, are in fact all around us, because it's always our human mind that creates them..."
"The most terrifying thing in the world is Man." His voice was tinged with sadness.
It's the human mind that creates the monstrous... huh... For some reason, I felt the man's words were telling the truth.
It's as if I had seen people trapped in this darkness before, time and time again...
"By the way, have you heard of this story? I heard of it from a friend of a friend---"
And, done! We've seen the 'rational' ending to this case, but there's still the other route, and a few FOAF Files we missed here and there. However, that'll have to wait, because as I said at the start, I'll be taking a break for around a week or so, maybe two.
Why? For two reasons: University, and because a game I've been looking forward to for a long time will release in Japan soon, and I want to see if making a blog similar to this one would work out. To explain further, the game is Death Mark II, one I recently brought up in my Twitter (check it out if you want announcements every time I post something), and despite the fact it will be getting an English version next year, due to the inconclusive date and my lack of patience, I want to translate it now, and show it to other fans as well. During this break, and after exams, I'll see if I can reasonably make another blog (taking screenshots and translating it may be more difficult than expected) and if I can keep these two blogs running at the same time. This will take a while to figure out, but I'll keep translating whenever I can, so expect some bigger posts after this break.
But, let me tell you my current opinion of this episode before I end this post. I liked it a lot, the comedy was pretty good, the interactions between the newly introduced recurring characters were nicely done, and I liked the ending even if it was melodramatic. This was a fun episode to translate, hopefully the other route will have some more mystery to it to keep things interesting.
Either way, see you next time!