Don't forget to read the first or previous part if you haven't!
In the last part, we confronted the kidnapped Yuusuke's mother, Yukari, on her behavior, pushing her to realize the abductor's true intentions, to bring about her reformation, and stop her abuse towards Yuusuke. After a grueling calling-out session, we convince her to go to the place indicated by 'pomegranate seeds'. We had a little encounter on our way with one of our collaborators, but we do reach our destination. That place turned out to be a hospital known as Granada Maternity Clinic, where illegal (in Japan) mother surrogacy services were carried out, and where the downward spiral of Yukari's life began in order to pay off the debt gained to use those services. Now, we'll investigate the inside of this abandoned hospital in search of Yuusuke, to finally bring an end to this family's tragedy. Let's begin, shall we?
Our footsteps reverberated in the darkness.
No matter how careful we are, we cannot completely muffle our footsteps in this silence.
It was horribly eerie inside the hospital, closed off in the dark. We walked through with a flashlight, cutting through the darkness and anxiety.
The atmosphere is heavy. There is a faint smell of disinfectant mixed with the stink of mold and dust.
"Kyouko Yukimura...?" Ms. Yukari's murmur made me move quickly.
[A face quickly flashes through the black background]
I saw a figure ahead of me. I quickly hid myself, but I wonder if they've already found me...?
I held my breath for a while, but Ms. Yukari just stood there looking ahead and didn't move.
I slowly and gradually checked the view ahead.
A woman's face was smiling kindly, floating in the moonlight.
It was a portrait.
Underneath the panel is 'Kyouko Yukimura, Vice Director'. "This person is Kyouko Yukimura..."
Her figure, clad in white and smiling with compassionate eyes, could aptly be described as a holy mother. She is a far cry from the image of an oni.
Next to it was a portrait of an elderly man. 'Hironobu Yukimura, Director'
He is a little plump and has a thinning head of hair, but also a friendly smile.
Why did this hospital collapse? Has Hironobu Yukimura already passed away? And for Kyouko Yukimura...
Various speculations and questions swirl in my brain. But now is not the time to think about it. My first priority is to rescue Yuusuke-kun as soon as possible.
Kyouko Yukimura wouldn't intend to hurt Yuusuke-kun. However, she's enraged with Ms. Yukari. The possibility of her hurting him cannot be denied.
(I'm counting on you, Superintendent Innami.) Trusting in their backup, we proceeded further into the building.
The tension was so great it became difficult to breathe, but we continued down the dark corridor. We weren't even sure what floor we were on.
The hallway, which wasn't very lengthy, felt so long that it seemed like an endless corridor.
Ms. Yukari stopped and pointed ahead. A dim orange light was leaking from a room at the end of the corridor.
Someone's, there...
I stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. Ms. Yukari was a little shaken, but her expression of determination remained unchanged.
Perhaps this is the strength of a mother. With a little reassurance, she slowly opened the door.
"---!!" It was a miracle I didn't scream.
Neither Ms. Yukari nor I could speak, and we were transfixed by the scene before us.
A room in a dirty, abandoned hospital.
Within, a woman with a frightening face was holding a sickle to the boy.
It was clearly--- an oni.
It's hard to believe that she was the same person whose portrait we saw earlier.
The loving expression on her face had vanished, leaving not even a trace.
Her long black hair is disheveled, dark circles appear under her red, bloodshot eyes, and her cheeks are puckered.
Still, that isn't enough to call her an oni.
But now that I was in front of her, I finally understood why the witness, Ryou Kobayashi, called the criminal an oni.
The red eyes tinged with madness. The piercing, murderous intent. A sense of oppression that doesn't allow anyone to come near.
The woman now radiated a strange atmosphere all over her body.
Unapproachable, hostile, yet somehow vacant...
Was she not human...?
I even fell for that illusion.
"Mommy...!" Yuusuke-kun shouted in a tearful voice. He seems to be safe.
But Kyouko Yukimura's bloodshot eyes are unusual. She looks as if she is about to thrust her sickle at any moment.
"Yuusuke!" Ms. Yukari shouted and tried to run toward him, but I held her back.
Yuusuke-kun seems to be struggling uncomfortably but is unable to escape. The force holding him down is so great he can't even stir around.
"Let go of Yuusuke-kun! Kyouko Yukimura!" The woman didn't respond to my call.
She was looking at me while still holding the scythe against Yuusuke-kun. Eventually, she slowly began to speak.
"...Why?" It was a low, raspy voice that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. I felt an unpleasant sensation like an insect crawling up my back.
"Why didn't you come to help him sooner?"
"......"
Ms. Yukari was unable to respond. Kyouko Yukimura continued.
"I gave you a chance to get him back, and you left him to die. ...You left him to die!"
"You're wrong!" Ms. Yukari shook her head.
"I am not wrong. Despite telling you to come, you didn't come. Yukari Saitou--- You are not qualified to be a mother.
Stumped by her words, Ms. Yukari fell into a depressed state with a sorrowful face. It's a fact that she tried to leave Yuusuke-kun to die. Even if it was her mind's hesitation that made her do so...
Kyouko Yukimura caressed Yuusuke-kun's neck with the tip of her sickle. Perhaps it was naive to think that she wouldn't harm him.
"Stop! I understand what you're thinking. The reason you took Yuusuke-kun away was... to protect him. And, so Ms. Yukari could have a change of heart."
"Modeled after the legend of Kishimojin, you tried to get this mother to stop by kidnapping her child."
"You can't hurt him! You have to let him go now!"
I tried to persuade her at the top of my voice. But Kyouko Yukimura's thin lips lifted in a silent smile.
"That's, what I planned... But, I changed my mind... Returning him to his mother will only make him unhappy..."
"So, I won't give Yuu-chan back!" Kyouko Yukimura's sharp eyes glare at me.
I was unable to move as if paralyzed, and then, she spun around and began to address Yuusuke-kun with a gentle tone of voice.
"Hey, Yuu-chan. Isn't it more fun with me than with that woman? I'll do whatever you want. So let's stay together forever, okay?"
"B-but, mommy's..."
"That woman's not your mom. She's the evil woman who bullies you. Such a woman has no worth as a mother, right?"
"Yuu-chan, say the truth. You really hate the woman who hits you, don't you? Right?"
Yuusuke-kun shook his head intensely. At that moment, the sickle that was held against him almost touched his cheek.
He would have been injured if Yukimura hadn't yanked back the scythe in her haste.
"Why? Why don't you understand? I can make you happy. And I'll be happy too, you know?"
"Hey, Yuu-chan. Let me become your mom. I'll be a kind mom to you."
The image of Kyouko Yukimura pierced my heart. I can't look at her too much. It's too painful.
"My mom... Only mommy is my mom!"
"Yuusuke..."
Ms. Yukari's expression showed a sense of indebtedness or guilt in some respects.
Surrogate mother--- Ms. Yukari is probably concerned about that.
Kyouko Yukimura glared at Yukari as if a longstanding enemy. Her eyes were full of hatred--- No, by now, they were brimming with the bewitching glisten called malevolence.
"No! That's wrong, Yuu-chan! This woman isn't anything like your mother!"
Ms. Yukari suddenly caught her breath, "Stop!"
"Look at the mother that beats you! But, she doesn't even deserve it! That woman didn't even give birth to you herself!"
"Stop!" [This line fades quickly]
Ms. Yukari's shout, resembling more of a shriek, echoed through the silent, abandoned hospital. Yuusuke-kun showed a befuddled look.
He may not understand the meaning of Kyouko Yukimura's words themselves, but he seems to have understood in his heart that Ms. Yukari isn't his real mother.
"The person who gave birth to you wasn't that woman! Let me tell you, Yuu-chan. The person who gave birth to you was...!"
"Stop!" [Again, it quickly fades]
Ms. Yukari suddenly jumped out. I was caught by surprise, and without time to stop her, she tried to grab Kyouko Yukimura.
But Kyouko Yukimura reaped the scythe with impunity!
"Mommy!!"
"Ms. Yukari!"
With a dull thud, Ms. Yukari was thrust away. "U-ugh..."
When I ran up to her, I found a blister on her cheek that looked as if she had been hit, but there were no other external injuries. It seemed that she had been hit by the handle of the sickle, not its blade.
"Mommy! Mommy!" Yuusuke-kun is thrashing wildly. But Kyouko Yukimura does not relinquish her hand.
"Stop! Big sis! Don't bully mommy!!" Yuusuke-kun called Kyouko Yukimura his 'big sis'. He must have adored her that much.
But his voice did not reach her. She only vented out her emotions.
"Yuu-chan, listen to me! The one that gave birth to you! The person who raised you with all her heart, you were in her belly, for ten months and ten days...!"
"It was me! I gave birth to you! I am your real mother!"
I couldn't believe my ears when I heard her words. Kyouko Yukimura... had given birth to Yuusuke-kun? ...The surrogate mother was Kyouko Yukimura!?
"Agh..." Groaned Ms. Yukari's despairing voice as she cowered. It implicitly affirmed Yukimura's words.
Although the ovum was Yukari Saitou's, it was none other than Kyouko Yukimura herself who nurtured Yuusuke-kun in her womb and spent ten months and ten days with him.
"Yuu-chan, it was me, you know? I worked as a surrogate mother. I gave birth to many children. You were the last child I had."
"You were the most difficult delivery I had, but... also the most profoundly memorable child I had... Parting with you was awfully painful..."
"That's why, when I saw you again... When you spoke kind words to me on that riverbank, and I realized that you were that child, I felt like it was fate...!"
"Yuu-chan... I'm... your real mother...!"
Yuusuke-kun was clearly in turmoil. Even though he's only eight years old, his identity is being shaken to the core at this very moment.
Regardless of the facts, if someone suddenly says to you, "your mother is not your real mother", no matter how young you are...
---No. The younger a child is the greater the trauma to their heart.
Things won't look good if they're kept this way. If Yuusuke-kun is shaken any more, even if the case's successfully solved, he'll be left with a great scar on his heart.
However, only Ms. Yukari can save Yuusuke-kun. "Hey, mommy..."
Yuusuke-kun calls for help. With his eyes wide open, he reaches for his mother.
"Hey, mommy... it's a lie, right? Only mommy is my mom, right?"
A pitifully straightforward question. But Ms. Yukari's face remains downcast, unable to answer anything.
"Hey, mommy... Why aren’t you saying anything, mommy..."
[Flashback to her line] "She... deserves to be Yuusuke's mother more than I do."
Ms. Yukari’s comment from the time of our departure flashed through my mind.
Does she truly consider herself inadequate to be a mother? If so, she’s certainly mistaken.
"Ms. Yukari!" I shook her shoulders.
"Yuusuke-kun believes in you! I do as well! Believe in him! And believe in the motherly feelings within you!"
"I-I..."
Yukimura’s shrill voice ridicules her triumphantly.
"You should get it now, Yuu-chan! She’s aware of it herself! She’s not worthy of being your mother!"
"That’s not true!" Yuusuke-kun shouts vigorously.
"I have only one mommy!"
"!!" Ms. Yukari lifts her head with a jump.
She looks at his face, her eyes overflowing with tears.
"...Yu-Yuusuke..." But, at that moment, Yukimura raised a shrill scream!
"AAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Why!? Whywhywhyyy!?"
"Everybody! Everybody does this. No matter how many I give birth to. No matter how much my heart aches, in the end, it’s as if I never existed! I'm only seen as something that shouldn’t exist!"
"By that person! And Yukimura as well! No matter how much... I went so far as to break the law... And despite that! Despite everything! They tried erasing my existence by force...!!"
"Why!? Why!!!!"
The eyes of the "oni" gaze at Yuusuke-kun, tinged with a brutal light. A bellow similar to lamentation echoes through the air.
"Why did you betray me? Why did you call that woman?"
"Hey, Yuu-chan! Why! Why!? Why do you call that woman mommy...!?"
This is bad! If this goes on, he'll be in danger!
"...ggghhhh!!!" Kyouko Yukimura screamed again, her voice cutting through the darkness. Her red, bloodshot eyes lighted up cruelly.
---You can't! The oni raises her scythe. The sharp blade cuts through the wind and closes in on Yuusuke-kun!!---
I faced the oni and hurled my whole body at it. I had no time to worry about my own safety.
[Thud]
My do-or-die body slam succeeded, and I was able to throw the oni woman off balance in the nick of time.
But the oni did not fall. On the contrary, she calmly striked me with the arm opposite to the one holding the scythe.
I reflexively blocked with my arm---
It was a tremendous force. A creaking sensation in my bones hit my entire body.
The oni continued to wave about the scythe, pressuring me to take a step back.
But the oni grabbed my wrist with a quick movement. "---Eh?"
In an instant, the scene was reversed.
That wasn't the work of a human. I was grabbed by the wrist with an outrageously strong grip. I was swung around and slammed against the wall.
[Red flashes onscreen]
The pain was so great that I couldn't breathe for a moment. "Gah! Gack...!"
I was hurled around by a single arm.
How? Kyouko Yukimura, though furious like an oni, is supposed to be nothing more than a middle-aged woman.
Why does she have so much strength?
"Yuusuke!" Ms. Yukari jumps on Kyouko Yukimura with a desperate look on her face. Don't do it, it's too dangerous---
I tried to stop her, but the pain in my back was so intense that I couldn't even stand up properly.
Far from it, I couldn't even speak. I was ashamed of myself...
Ms. Yukari was knocked down in front of me, who could do nothing but stare. She collapsed to the floor without any strength, like a doll.
"Mommy!"
"You! If only you didn't exist!!"
This isn't good. She wants to kill Ms. Yukari. I am no longer in a position to persuade her. She is so agitated that her hatred has reached its peak.
I have to do something---
I stood up, spurring on my body in great pain. But before I could get to my feet, the oni released Yuusuke-kun. And then she made an unbelievable jump.
She swung her sickle so high that it seemed to reach the ceiling and, like a bird of prey, attacked Ms. Yukari in a straight line from above her head.
"Ms. Yukari, run!"
The scythe swung down in a wide arc...
With a sudden roar, a tremendous cloud of dust rose up. My vision was blocked, and I couldn't see anything.
What in the world happened!?
"Mommy! Mommy!" I could hear Yuusuke-kun's screams.
I can't get a grasp of my surroundings. Where is Yuusuke-kun? Is Ms. Yukari safe? What happened to Yukimura?
Shaking my panicking head violently, I managed to restrain myself. I reminded myself to stay calm, stay calm.
The dust that had risen gradually cleared. The light from the flickering lamps gave the illusion that the room itself was also shaking. Several shadows cast long, black figures on the walls.
Yuusuke-kun had slumped down by the lamp. Yukimura, turned into an oni, stood in the center of the room, looking down at her feet.
Ms. Yukari was...
...Alive!
There was a large hole gaping in the center of the room. Is this the cause of the sound I just heard...?
At the edge of the hole was Ms. Yukari's figure, barely hanging on to the end of a tattered and familiar board.
The wooden floor was rotten. The bottom had fallen out from the impact of the oni's large leap and landing.
The oni stood by the hole, staring down at Ms. Yukari. Her face was twisted into a cruel smile.
At that time, I understood intuitively. This was the true nature of an oni. The distortion of the human heart creates onis.
The oni kicked Ms. Yukari's hands repeatedly. "Agh...", Ms. Yukari groaned sadly.
Before I could think, I went to bind the oni’s arms from behind. Her body was smaller and more slender than I expected. She had a very average, middle-aged woman’s physique.
And yet...
She shook free from me using that staggering force again.
“Yuusuke-kun, run!” While shouting, I made to grab at the oni for a third time.
Ms. Yukari seemed to be on the verge of falling. Her expression was of pain. The oni was heartlessly trampling on her hand time and time again.
Once I bound her, I summoned all of my strength to attempt to stop her, but she didn’t seem to mind it at all.
Amidst intense pain and exhaustion, my consciousness gradually grew hazy. Somehow, if just Yuusuke-kun and Ms. Yukari could survive...
“Mommy! Let mommy go!”
Yuusuke-kun screamed---
He lifted up the lamp that was within reach---
Threw it at the oni---
It was repelled by the handle of the scythe---
The lamp smashed into the wall and broke---
Spewing flames---
"Hiiiih!!!"
The oni lost her mind, acting violently---
I was tossed like a piece of trash---
My vision spinning round and round---
The sound of shattering glass---
Gravity---
Wind---
Deep dark---
...That's... Ms. Yuuka?
I almost fainted from the violent impact...
[Screen begins to whiten]
I won't let it end like this... At least, I'll reach the truth of this case...
I worked out the thoughts within my fading consciousness...
[Very appropriate timing, Junya. Like last time, we've already solved the case, do I'll skip the reasoning]
(Verification 1)
What happened between Yukari Saitou and Yuusuke-kun? >Over-education
>Mother and Child >Staged Kidnapping
(Verification 2)
What was Kyouko Yukimura's goal? >Mother's Love
>Ransom
(Verification 3)
What happened between Kyouko Yukimura and Yuusuke-kun? >Surrogate Mother
>Abduction >Over-education
>Threatening Letter (Sent a threatening letter unsolicited)
>Fire
>Threatening Letter (Sent a threatening letter unsolicited)
>Fire
>Neighbors (Ms. Yukari and Anzai are neighbors)
[This blank has suspiciously few options...]
>Fire (Ms. Yukari had a bad experience with fire in the past)
>Oni >Cigarette Smoke >Kishimojin
>Granada Maternity (Had a child through a surrogate in Granada Maternity Clinic)
>Surrogate Mother >Debt
>Oni (The culprit's identity was of an oni)
>Lie >Human
>Retrogressive Hypnosis (Professor Matsuura was in charge of Ryou Kobayashi-kun's retrogressive hypnosis session)
>Pupil >Over-education
>Colleagues (Ms. Hitomi and Professor Matsuura are colleagues)
>Pupil >Over-education
>Friends (My brother and Ms. Hitomi are friends)
>Pupil >Over-education >Colleagues
>Classmates (Mr. Kogure and Doumyouji are classmates)
>Pupil >Lie
>Huge Old Man (Mr. Kogure is the mysterious huge old man)
>Kidnapper >Oni >Human
>Pupil (Ms. Yuuka is my brother's pupil)
>Kidnapping >Over-education
[Let's see the verification]
(Verification 1)
What happened between Yukari Saitou and Yuusuke-kun?
That was 'over-education'.
The secret room hidden in the Saitou house... It tells the whole story.
In addition, Yukari Saitou herself initially thought that it would be better if Yuusuke-kun didn't return.
The mother-child relationship between Yukari Saitou and Yuusuke-kun certainly is not normal.
(Verification 2)
What was Kyouko Yukimura's goal?
It was taking back the "mother's love" from Yukari Saitou.
Kyouko Yukimura held unusual feelings for Yuusuke-kun.
Yukimura pondered when she learned that he was being treated badly by his mother.
She wanted to somehow reform Yukari Saitou, and this led her to carry out the kidnapping.
(Verification 3)
What happened between Kyouko Yukimura and Yuusuke-kun?
Yukimura gave birth to Yuusuke-kun as a "surrogate mother". She abducted him out of motherly love.
Yukari Saitou wanted to love Yuusuke-kun. She wanted to be reformed like Kishimojin.
It was with this wish in mind that she ran to Yukimura.
[All correct, nice]
Here's what happened while I was passed out---
I later heard this story when I interviewed Ms. Yukari Saitou.
Yukari came to her senses amidst flames.
Perhaps it was because she had been in the darkness until then. She squinted at the radiant blazes and looked around slowly.
For a few moments, she looked around curiously, but then suddenly realized the situation she was in.
She screamed in a panic. "Yuusuke!!"
She tried to stand up, letting out small groans.
She must have hit her whole body hard when she fell from the upper floor a few moments ago. She felt her face contorting intensely.
But even as she held her aching body, she turned her gaze above her head.
In front of her gaze, there was a large hole in the ceiling. The room that spread beyond it was also engulfed in flames.
"Yuusuke!!" She called out again above her head, but her voice was drowned out by the flames that were gaining momentum.
The fire had become a huge swell that was about to engulf the old wooden ruins.
It was obvious that if she remained where she was, she too would be swallowed whole.
"I don't want to die..." This didn't mean that she wanted to be the sole survivor. Yuusuke-kun and her both surviving... She sincerely wished for that.
She slowly got up. Then, with dazed steps, she went out into the hallway.
The corridor leading to the upper floor was already being eroded by the flames.
Aaaaaahhh---
"Eh!? What!?" She felt she heard something in the distance and turned around in a haste.
Aaaaaaaaahhhh---
A woman's hoarse cry, as if she were writhing in agony. And then, mingled with that voice, another.
"Mo...mommy..." The voice of a small child asking for his mother.
"Yuusuke!!" She tried to run in the direction of the voice, but the corridor ahead of her was already enveloped in flames.
If she entered, there was no guarantee of her getting out alive.
"Kh..." Yukari pondered.
---What did I do to Yuusuke as a mother?
---I was so afraid of getting hurt that I hurt my child.
---I was so afraid of losing him that I abandoned him.
---And yet, no matter how badly I treated him, no matter how many terrible things I said, he still loved me...
---But even so... I was a despicable mother.
---Once Yukimura confessed the truth, I thought everything would end.
---I thought I'd lose everything.
---And still, Yuusuke... That boy...
"I have only one mommy!"
"I... I am Yuusuke's mother!" Yukari took action. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the enflamed corridor.
"Yuusuke! I'm coming! Mom's coming!" She shouted and glared over the flames! And then, with a dash, she broke into a run.
"Yuusuke!! YUUSUKE!!" Forgetting the intense pain that was shooting through her body, she headed toward the sound of the voice.
She could feel tongues of flame lapping at her entire body, scorching her hair and clothes. Still, she would not stop.
"Yuusuke!! Yuusuke!! Yuusukeee!!" She ran up the blazing staircase.
On the way, a floorboard came loose, almost knocking her off her feet, but she wasn't intimidated and just kept going forward. Seeking the sight of her own child---
"Mommyy!!" On the landing just after going up the stairs. Yuusuke stood there.
"Yuusuke!!" A distance that could have been easily reached by extending out a hand. However, a wall of flames stood between them.
"Mommy! You came! You came to save me again!" His honest eyes focused on his beloved mother.
He had been waiting all along, believing that his mother would come to his rescue.
"It's all right! Everything's all right! Mommy is going to save you now!" Yukari nodded repeatedly as she spoke.
Yuusuke's face instantly collapses into a crumpled mess. The tears he had been desperately holding back spill down his cheeks.
"Mommy!! Mommy!! I don't want to die, mommy!"
"I want to go to the amusement park with mommy! I want to go to the zoo and the aquarium! I don't want to die yet!"
"I'll really, really be a better boy! I'll do everything you say! So help me... Mommy!!"
"Of course...! We'll go together when we get back! To the amusement park, to the aquarium!" Yukari jumped into the flames without hesitation.
"Yuusuke!"
"Mommy!"
She held Yuusuke's body firmly in her hands, rubbing her cheeks against his.
"Mommy..."
"Sorry... I'm sorry."
"A-are you crying? Is it my fault...? Have I been a bad kid?"
"No, that's wrong, Yuusuke... I'm crying because you've been such a good boy."
"Mommy is... happy. I'm glad that you're my son... That's why I'm crying."
"Really...? Mommy?"
"Yes... Really." They embraced each other, forgetting that the flames were closing in. As if to make up for the time they had lost---
"Now, let's leave, Yuusuke! Together with mommy!"
"Mommy..."
"It's going to be alright! I absolutely won't let you die! ...Because we're going together to the amusement park, aren't we? Right?" Her smiling face was unmistakably that of a mother.
She took Yuusuke in her arms and ran down the stairs at once. Regardless of everything else, she kept running single-mindedly toward the exit.
But...
A blazing inferno---
In the midst of it all---
Emerged a swaying shadow---
Much more terrifying than the flames---
A woman---
Scythe in hand---
The oni was standing in a swirling vortex of surging flames, swallowing her down from below the waist.
Whipped by the hot wind, her black hair shimmered and swayed against the flames.
Her eyes, lit up by the crimson, seemed to burn red. However, they were somewhat fragile and sad...
"...Big sis."
Yuusuke mumbled. Yukari held him tightly and stared at the oni.
---I believe.
---In this boy. And in my motherly feelings.
"Yuusuke is my child!" The flames flickered violently in response to Yukari's cry. The thunderous fire illuminated the cheeks of the two mothers.
"......"
"......"
For what seemed like an eternity, the two mothers just stared at each other.
---Suddenly, the oni moved.
The oni turned away and slowly headed toward the flames.
The next moment--- The oni disappeared without a trace.
It was instantaneous. Like a ghost, she was gone.
No, standing in that fire in itself was strange. Perhaps that was the flames manifesting an illusion of her.
"Ah! Look, mommy!" Yuusuke leaned forward and pointed.
She could see the flames in front of her gradually diminishing. The inferno that engulfed the long corridor where the oni had disappeared was cleared away as though her way out.
"Mommy!" Yukari nodded, and with Yuusuke held firmly in both arms, she ran out through the open path.
"Mommy..." Yuusuke murmured softly in her ear.
"Finally... Big sis... smiled."
[Fade to black]
I sighed deeply for the umpteenth time that day and looked out the window.
A day has passed since Yuusuke-kun was rescued.
I was thrown out of the window by Kyouko Yukimura, and fortunately, the shrubbery directly below the window served as a cushion and I escaped with only a broken leg.
It seems I was unconscious for several minutes.
When I came to, Ms. Yuuka's face was right in front of me, her cheeks wet. And Granada Maternity was engulfed in flames.
With her support, I attempted to somehow go help Yuusuke-kun and the others, when a soot-covered Ms. Yukari came running out of the entrance holding him in her arms.
Shortly thereafter, Granada Maternity collapsed.
I was so ashamed of myself... I couldn't do anything. Yuusuke-kun's safety was all thanks to Yukari's help.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get at my incompetence. My frustration is boiling over.
I sighed again.
[Door knock]
A knock at the door shakes off my melancholy. When I'm down in the dumps like this, I feel like I'm going to rot away if I don't meet someone and talk to them.
"Yes, come in." I ushered in my guest.
It was Mr. Kogure who appeared from behind the door.
He stood next to my bed with his huge body shrinking apologetically, and his face crumpled up as if he were about to cry.
"I, Souichirou Kogure, have committed the greatest mistake of my life! I can only settle this by taking responsibility and committing..." I managed to calm Mr. Kogure down and asked him about the situation.
"I thought we had attached a transmitter to your body and Yukari's car, sir, but..."
"Superintendent Innami and I were 10 minutes behind when the car we followed finally reached the coast of Chiba Prefecture..."
Speaking of that, the coast of Chiba Prefecture is in the exact opposite direction from the mountains of Kanagawa Prefecture, where the Granada Maternity Clinic was located.
"On the beach, we found the transmitter that was supposed to be attached to your body. So we had lost sight of you from the beginning..."
Mr. Kogure's body steadily shrinks as he speaks.
Afraid he would disappear as things kept going, I followed up with a comment.
"Everyone was all right, so it's alright. But the transmitter should have been on my body the whole time, so when could it have been switched out?"
"We don't know... However, there's one more weird thing." Mr. Kogure lowers his voice and brings his face close to mine.
"It's about Doumyouji... I tried asking Superintendent Innami while we were chasing the transmitter. That's when..."
Right then, Mr. Kogure's body shivered faintly.
"He said, I don't know anyone like that. I asked the other detectives, but they also said there's no detective named Doumyouji in the First Investigative Division..."
"He's not from there?" I gulped. Then, who in the world was that man...?
If he's not involved with the police, then he shouldn't have known about us and couldn't have leaked the intelligence from the investigation headquarters.
Doumyouji... For what sake did he appear before us and cooperate with our investigation?
Mr. Kogure and I were silent for a while. Something strange had occurred in our lives.
I wondered if this also had something to do with the man on the phone...? Suddenly, Mr. Kogure's voice broke the silence.
"Oh, yes. Sir, about the stamps' appraisal."
"Stamps?"
"From the threatening letters. The ones sent to Ms. Sagami and Mrs. Kounoike."
"The results are out?"
"Yeah." Mr. Kogure took out his notebook from the inner pocket of his coat and turned the pages as if to check.
"The DNA matched with Satoko Anzai's blood."
"T-then, those letters... and the kidnapper... and Kyouko Yukimura are unrelated?"
"Yes, we were all over the place because of Satoko Anzai." Mr. Kogure said, annoyed.
"I think the motive was probably... envy toward Ms. Sagami and Mrs. Kounoike, as expected."
"I think, maybe... What do you mean by that, Mr. Kogure? Have you questioned her?"
"No, the problem is..."
There was a pause of at least five seconds before Mr. Kogure spoke his next words.
"She's gone missing."
"Missing!?" I accidentally screamed despite being in a hospital.
I hastily dropped the tone of my voice. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. She must have run away thinking, 'my crimes will be exposed sooner or later'..."
"I see..." ...Satoko Anzai's crimes and Kyouko Yukimura's kidnapping just happened to occur at the same time and were unrelated...?
I don't know why, but that just feels too good to be true.
"Also, Ms. Sagami's family dog... Lucky, was... found protected in Kanagawa Prefecture."
"Huh?"
"Perhaps Satoko Anzai took it with her when she sent the threatening letter in Kanagawa... and released it there."
"Is that so? ...But, I'm glad. That it was found."
"I agree." Mr. Kogure tucked his notebook into his inside pocket and pulled out a piece of paper instead.
"Sir, here. It's a letter that Yuusuke-kun wrote. He wanted you to give it to Kyouko Yukimura when next you meet her."
Mr. Kogure offered a letter written on a neat, childlike piece of paper.
It wasn't in an envelope and folded four times, leaving it bare.
The letter was filled with Yuusuke-kun's thoughts and feelings in clumsy handwriting.
To Big Sis
I'm not mad at you.
Because I still like you.
You aren't good at games and you don't know much about manga, but I had a lot of fun playing together with you.
I told my mommy that you're not a bad person. So let's play together again. Can I bring my friends next time?
My friend is better than me at playing games.
"......" An unbearable feeling welled up in my chest. Why did it have to end in such an unfortunate way?
Two mothers. Both loved this pure little boy with all their hearts. Everyone could have been happy, but...
"Please bury this in the ruins of the hospital." I asked Mr. Kogure, returning the letter to him.
[Knock]
A knock on the door announced my second visitor of the day.
"Yes, come in." I ushered in my visitor, and the Inspector, seeming pleased for some reason, showed up.
"Inspector... What's the matter?"
"I pretty much came to visit because one of my men got injured."
As she spoke, the Inspector carelessly tossed papers onto the bed.
"This is... Kyouko Yukimura's personal history, isn't it!?"
"Yep. That Innami guy doesn't seem to be slacking off either. It was pretty interesting, so I snatched one."
"Snatched it..." Oh well. There's nothing I can say to this Inspector. I'm more interested in what's on the document.
I looked over Kyouko Yukimura's past together with Mr. Kogure.
According to the report, Kyouko Yukimura and her husband opened Granada Maternity Clinic about 20 years ago.
She had been studying fertility treatment since she was a student, but after opening the Granada Maternity Clinic, she felt she had reached her limits and eventually became a surrogate mother to help women suffering from infertility.
The number of children she bore amounted to 11. Incidentally, the Yukimuras had no children.
However, about two years ago, her husband Hironobu Yukimura suddenly closed Granada Maternity Clinic. The reason for this is not clear.
Rumor has it that Hironobu Yukimura was suffering from a terminal disease and that he had a guilty conscience about surrogate motherhood services they were secretly carrying out.
Hironobu Yukimura donated almost all of his fortune to an organization researching fertility treatments.
He then self-immolated to death at home by covering himself with kerosene... In doing so, he even tried to take Kyouko Yukimura with him. As a result, Granada Maternity burned down.
The resume added that it was a few days after the burning down of Yukari Saitou's parents' house in Iriya. However, no causal relationship was found.
"Come to think of it..." I remembered when I went to Kyouko Yukimura's room.
There was no mirror in that room. It could be because she didn't want to see the wounds she had sustained in the fire, but there were no burns on Yukimura's face when we met her in that abandoned hospital.
If she had a big scar on her face that led to the oni sighting, that might explain it, but that doesn't seem to be the case...
"But about Kyouko Yukimura's remains---" The Inspector dexterously opens her mouth, stifling a yawn of boredom.
"I guess they didn't find it." The inspector said with a wry smile.
"Maybe Kyouko Yukimura really did die in that fire two years ago..."
Once she had finished what she wanted to say, the Inspector left the hospital room with a wave of her hand in a nonchalant manner.
The first-hand account of the oni---
The life spent avoiding others---
The room without mirrors---
The fire two years ago---
The inhuman physical strength---
The corpse that was never found---
One after another, inexplicable keywords are pieced together in my mind, and I try to derive answers that cannot be given.
Mr. Kogure and I sat in the quiet of the hospital room, silently reflecting on this bizarre incident.
The hospital room at twilight was so quiet it hurt my ears...
So ended my first case in the Police History Archival Office.
Comprehensive Evaluation: S Class
Episode Two - Oni - End
[No epilogue this time]
We've reached the ending of the 'realistic' route. It had the most satisfying conclusion of all episodes we've seen yet for me. But still, the mystery of who Kyouko Yukimura is remains. From what I can gather, the Yukimura we see probably isn't the same as shown in the portrait, and the fact they deliberately said the couple had no children makes me believe that they were infertile too. or maybe they had an unwanted child or something. But in the end, like he said, there are too many threads that lead nowhere... in this route, that is. That's right, the next post will begin immediately with the other route, no .5 part this time!
See you then!