Kamen Rider Kuuga Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Amadam

 

“That’s the point where you’re supposed to hug her, shouldn’t that be obvious?”

Against Shuuichi Tsubaki’s matter-of-factly tone, Ichijou responded in frustration.

“Is that really all you can talk about? It’s impossible, I’m almost twice her age, you know?”

“You idiot, that’s exactly why it’s possible. If you’re that much older, it means you look composed throughout everything you do. Because of all the experience you’ve gone through, things that you just do ordinarily will end up looking amazing to her. As long as you’re not gay or h.o.m.o or anything like that, you’ve got no reason to hesitate.”

“Alright, alright, I got it.”

“Seriously man, if things have gotten to that point, it’s pretty much common courtesy to hug her.”

“First I’ve heard of courtesy like that.”

Ichijou was regretting telling his best friend from high school the private elements of his time in Kyoto. Ichijou’s intentions were just to show how Mika, even though she was slightly intoxicated, remained pa.s.sionate about dealing with the investigation. He always ends up making it about romantic relationships though, thought Ichijou, as he wryly smiled in his heart.

“You’re only saying this because you’ve never met Natsume-kun before. She’s not that kind of girl.”

“You know, you’re going to regret treating her like a little kid like that. She’s already 27, this Natsume-kun girl.”

“‘Personality doesn’t always change just from getting older. Just look at you, you’re still the same skirt chaser from your high school days!”

“How rude! I’ll have you know I’ve grown from an amateur skirt chaser to a professional one! Listen up, women who have gone past the age of 25 are anxious. If you date them for at least a year, the word ‘marriage’ is sure to come up. Tell her it’s still a bit soon, deepen your relationship, and eventually the two of you will be bounded together just like that. In a sense, it’s the point where you need to spoil them the most. That’s why you need to date Natsume-kun!”

“And just how the h.e.l.l did you jump to that logic?”

“I just want to see how pitiful you’d look at a woman’s mercy.”

As they went about their meaningless banter, Tsubaki’s fingers were clattering over his laptop’s keyboard. On the screen displayed information regarding a corpse’s official autopsy. It was from the Tokyo Metropolitan Hospital’s medical records. Working at the Kantou Hospital as a physician, Shuuichi Tsubaki was one of Ichijou’s most valuable companions. 13 years ago, he served as a medical examiner in the Unidentified Lifeform homicide cases, figuring out their modus operandi from doing autopsies on the victims and pinpointing their cause of death. He also served as almost a personal physician for G.o.dai after he obtained the ability to transform, even saving his life from danger on occasions. In some way or the other, it was a form of proof that Tsubaki had Ichijou’s complete trust.

They were both from the same hometown, first meeting all the way back in the year they were admitted into Aichi Prefecture’s Asahigaoka High School.The school was known for its freedom, being the only school in the prefecture that did not have a strict uniform policy. There was a wide deviation rate in terms of academic ability, and individuality was encouraged, with even dyed hair and piercings being allowed. Ichijou however, among his 3 years of attending, adhered to the school’s official rules and wore the proper uniform. On the other hand, Tsubaki was as much of a skirt chaser back then as he was now, and was quite popular with the female students in his own right. His academic achievements were top notch, and had top scores all throughout middle school. It was when he attended Asahigaoka that he first tasted the bitter defeat of getting second place, and the one who took first place away from him was none other than Ichijou.

After that, Tsubaki began considering Ichijou as his rival, and tried to compete with him whenever possible. Ichijou paid no attention to his strides, which only served to fuel his fire. By the first year’s autumn, Tsubaki had overtook him. Since then, they had a relationship of constantly overtaking each other, but because they felt that they would not ever get along, that relationship did not grow any closer than that. It was when they ended up being in the same cla.s.s for the second year’s spring that that first changed. Their english teacher would constantly recommend a certain publisher in regards to English-j.a.panese dictionaries, to the point where he actually claimed that they might as well throw away any other ones they might own. Tsubaki, who was sitting in the very front of the cla.s.s and had been using one of those “other” dictionaries, turned to face the garbage can that was on the other side of the room and threw the dictionary, with it landing inside perfectly. Just as Tsubaki was about to blame the teacher for making him do that, Ichijou stood up from his seat and went to throw away his dictionary as well. Seeing Ichijou so obediently follow his words, the teacher had no choice but to admit that he went too far.

 

That event was what caused them to get to know each other better. After finally giving a shot at talking to each other, they realized they actually had a lot in common. Things like their favorite picture book being “The Cat That Lived 1 Million Times”, them both being huge stamp collectors in the past, crying over shojo manga they borrowed from female cla.s.smates during middle school...they shared many unexpected interests. They also both moved to Tokyo when pursuing their university ambition. Their paths split apart when they became police officer and doctor, but both of them had broken the boundaries and became the top of their respective fields. Both the environments they grew up in and their personalities may have been very different, but perhaps they both moved along the same direction. If you ignore the chasing girls part, that is.

Ichijou, for one of the few times in his life, asked Tsubaki for a gigantic favor. He wanted him to secretly obtain the results of Kouichi Nakata’s official autopsy. Previously, Sugita had been investigating independently in regards to his suspicion over Nakata’s involvement in the oxygen capsule cases. Recently however, for whatever reason, information regarding him had become restricted.

“Apparently, Sugita was trying to hold off Nakata’s cremation. From what I’ve heard, Nakata’s corpse was actually burned before schedule. Something about it being more convenient for the funeral home, due to various circ.u.mstances.”

“Various circ.u.mstances, huh… We’ve got various things going on on my side too. We haven’t been getting any new information at all.”

“There’s no doubt about it then, someone’s holding the information back.”

“Yeah. It was the same with the Unidentified Lifeforms. Information regarding them wasn’t released to the public until long after the incidents. When things got really bad, it was pretty much the iron rule that info was to be spread AFTER the incident was settled.”

“The question here is, who is controlling the information, and for what purpose? Under normal circ.u.mstances, there’s no way that the Ministry of Public Security I’m working at wouldn’t have that kind of information on hand.”

“Yeah this is hopeless. I’ll have to contact an acquaintance of mine but, well, don’t expect much.”

“Please do.”

“More importantly…”

“Hm?”

“Isn’t this what you really wanted to talk to me about?”

The image displayed on Tsubaki’s monitor was the same one Mika had showed Ichijou earlier, depicting a white Kuuga.

“So you knew… What do you think of it?”

“Well, it’s really too blurry to tell for sure. It easily looks like something that could have been edited in by someone. Who knows, it might be another one of those copy-cat cases.”

“There’s been a lot of those in the past, but this is the first I’ve seen one of a white Kuuga.”

“Hmm… You have a point, you’d have to be a huge enthusiast for this one.”

“That’s the only thing that’s really caught my attention.”

“....White, huh.”

The color of the form Yusuke first transformed into… The white seemed to represent the Yusuke’s confusion and unfamiliarity of his body that he was going through. It was designated “Unidentified Lifeform No. 2”, and was considered the incomplete stage of the red Kuuga, Unidentified Lifeform No. 4, which was fit for battle. That is why when Kuuga changed into the different colors of blue, green, and purple in order to adapt to the evolution of his abilities, the police force simply referred to them as a different colored No. 4. There was a period of time where Kuuga had reverted to his white form but, because the police did not announce such information to the public, Ichijou had trouble believing that the average citizen would know about the white Kuuga’s return. But a picture of Kuuga has indeed appeared once again, and this time it was of the white Kuuga.

“If that Kuuga really is the man we know, that would mean his strength has weakened considerably.”

“Yeah.”

“I can believe in that possibility, right?”

“...What are you trying to say?”

“I still remember it clearly to this day. 13 years ago, after he defeated No. 0, you came here after a little while, right?”

“Right.”

“He was severely injured from that battle, but he miraculously recovered due to the Amadam’s power. He then went off on another adventure, saying farewell only to you, along with telling you to say goodbye to the rest for him.”

“Correct.”

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

Tsubaki locked onto Ichijou with a sharp gaze. Ichijou stared right back undauntedly. Only a few seconds had past, but it felt much longer to Ichijou.

“What makes you say that?”

“I remember I asked you a question at that time. ‘Do you think G.o.dai is smiling right now?’ But you just looked out the window at the blue open sky with a complicated expression, ignoring my question.”

“That’s…”

“Normally you’d respond with something like ‘I sure hope so.’”

“.........”

“It’s ‘cause you’re honest to your core. That’s your weakness. That’s why I gave up on that guy. But since this image caught your attention, I’m going to a.s.sume that the possibility is there.”

“Yeah...the possibility is still there.”

Ichijou pulled out his heavy memories and began detailing them to Tsubaki. The memories of what had occurred at that snowstorm.

 

“Looks like the belt’s damage still hasn’t healed yet. That’s why...make sure to aim here if the time comes.”

Speaking with a gentle smile, Yusuke G.o.dai pointed to his abdomen. In order to defeat No. 0, he had to wield the ultimate power. In the event that he would end up becoming “The being that brings about ultimate darkness”, Ichijou was to put him to rest by shooting nerve-breaking bullets into that area. Ichijou was fully prepared to pull the trigger if that time came. Ever since he swore to Head Chief Matsukura, saying “If anything happens, I will eliminate him”, Ichijou had determined his resolve.

Yusuke G.o.dai, performing his final transformation into the black Kuuga, disappeared into the snowstorm. It was only for a moment, but Ichijou caught a clear glimpse of his eyes being red. That was proof that G.o.dai had triumphed over the darkness and retained his sanity. Ichijou felt relieved, but at the same time his chest tightened. Despite the kind heart G.o.dai had, he was to be forced to perform the ultimate slaughter.

Ichijou ran. With all his heart and mind, he ran. G.o.dai will win. That’s what he believed. He wanted to see the moment No. 0 fell in battle, and he wanted to be able to embrace G.o.dai… With only those feelings in mind, he ran into the silver forest, against the snow hitting his face and slowing his feet. Suddenly his field of vision opened up, as a wide field blurred by the snowstorm flew into his view. Seeing the sight of two bodies collapsed in the center, Ichijou understood that their struggle to the death had come to a close.

He did not lose that heart of his. Yusuke G.o.dai remained himself to the very end. Within the snowstorm that blurred the difference between the very sky and earth, No. 0 was defeated and sunk into the snow.

“G.o.dai…”

I was too late, thought Ichijou as he stood in place. G.o.dai had fought with everyone’s hopes entrusted to him, yet Ichijou had not even been able to be there to embrace him with his warmth.

“G.o.dAIIII!!!”

The moment Ichijou screamed out with all his might, a sudden gust whipped up the snow and obstructed his vision once more. Just how much distance separated the two of them. The more he struggled, the more violent the wind grew, at times stopping him from even taking another step. Upon finally reaching the center of the snowy plains, he found the corpse of No. 0 covered in snow, along with G.o.dai being nowhere in sight. Ichijou desperately shoveled through the snow, but the snowstorm had erased any traces of where he could have gone. In the end, Ichijou was unable to find him.

 

“He probably didn’t want me to see him without his smile...that’s what I think.”

“So you kept everything to yourself in your heart, and told everyone that he had gone on another adventure.”

“Even now, I still check to see if any unknown bodies have been found in that area. As of right now, there hasn’t been anything to suggest the worst has happened.”

“And that’s why the possibility is still there, huh?”

Tsubaki returned his gaze towards the image resembling No. 2 displayed on his monitor.

“But if that’s the case, then it’s possible he’s come back to lose his smile once again...”

Ichijou reflected over Tsubaki’s words and remained silent for a while. His eyes then slowly returned to the monitor.

“After that, I’ve kept seeing the same dream over and over again.”

“Dream…?”

“Yes… It’s always at some faraway country, with children at a pure white beach. A blue sky and rolling waves…it was like a land of paradise. The children would be playing with each other in good fun, yet every time, something unexpected would happen and they end up fighting. Then that guy would run in carefreely with his backpack on, and begin juggling b.a.l.l.s for them. His skill would impress them so much that smiles began slowly growing back onto their faces…”

Possibly being able to imagine the sight, Tsubaki began smiling as well.

“After seeing that, he would pa.s.s the b.a.l.l.s to the children and throw them a thumbs-up with his extraordinary smile before departing for another journey…”

“...A dream, huh…”

“A dream…”

“...I see…”

Murmuring those words without looking at Ichijou, Tsubaki turned his eyes towards the blue sky outside the window.

“Well, there’s nothing else I can do, so come grab a bite with me.”

Accepting his offer, Ichijou joined Tsubaki in his car as he took him to his usual cafe. Ichijou felt a bit concerned over what Tsubaki meant by “there’s nothing else I can do”, but he was more surprised over Tsubaki’s car itself. 13 years ago, he was riding in a black Chevrolet Corvette Stingray convertible, a quite impressive looking vehicle, but this time it was an old sweet colored Fiat 500F. An antique from 1965, the small automobile was not even 3 meters long, lacking not only seatbelts but air conditioning as well. It was registered before the year 1969, so it was not affected by the seat belt requirement policies, but regardless, Ichijou could not help but be stricken with confusion over why Tsubaki would choose this specific car.

“It must be tough driving around in this old thing.”

“You idiot. These days, women love cars like these.”

“Oh really now.”

“It’s true that these cars take a lot more work. Smoke will randomly start coming out of the engine while driving, it can raise h.e.l.l when stopping at a traffic light, and so on. But in regards to both cars and women, the more you have to work for it, the more valuable the love becomes.”

“...Well if that’s what you want, then I’m not going to say anything...”

As they chatted, Tsubaki eventually arrived at a street corner and stopped his car in a small parking lot. Tsubaki then brought Ichijou to a certain nearby establishment.

“Wait a second, this place is…”

“That’s right. Jounan University.”

“Weren’t you taking me to your usual cafe?”

“There’s this really high cla.s.s cafe in this hall, that’s my usual cafe.”

Stepping into the cafe that had been recently built a couple years ago with an exceptionally tall ceiling, they caught the attention of a woman wearing an outfit comprising of an Ito Jakuchu t-shirt and a caribbean style maxi skirt, who stood up to greet them. Sporting a feminine short bob, she held a notepad and pencil, along with an ID card hanging from her neck that displayed the t.i.tle of “a.s.sistant Professor”. And the name following that t.i.tle was…”Sakurako Sawatari”.

“Sawatari-san…!?”

“It’s been quite a while, Ichijou-san!”

“You haven’t changed at all, I see.”

“Really? Even if you’re just trying to flatter me, I’m happy to hear that!”

Laughing, her eyes took the same crescent shape as before. The only difference was that this time it looked more gentle, giving her a more mature atmosphere. The knowledge and experience she gained over the years was very apparent, she had aged magnificently.

“Nah, this guy has been horrible at flattery since I was with him in high school. He’s definitely being honest.”

“Then I’ll take you for your word and enjoy his compliment. Oh, that’s right, thank you for that meal earlier.”

“No no, any time.”

Ichijou shifted his eyes towards Tsubaki, with him responding by turning his eyes away in feigned ignorance. Is this guy seriously still going after Sawatari-san? But judging from the atmosphere, it doesn’t seem like he’s made much progress at all, thought Ichijou, as he read the situation. If they really had that kind of relationship, she would not have gone out of her way to thank him in a place like this. Regardless, Ichijou found the sight of Tsubaki in such a merry mood a bit cute.

“I really appreciate that the two of you took the time to come here for me today.”

“Eh? ...So it’s you who invited us?”

“Yes. I asked Tsubaki to take you here whenever you two had the chance.”

“Geez, what are you asking her for, Ichijou? I already told you why we were coming here.”

Ichijou finally understood what Tsubaki meant by the words “there’s nothing else I can do.”.

 

As they walked down the hallway with Sakurako, chimes of “Professor Sawatari” could be heard from various students pa.s.sing by. And each time, she would stop and take the time to sincerely answer their questions. It was apparent that her students had both respect and affection for her.

“Oh, Professor! I watched that really old Lupin movie! That Fiat really was adorable! Are you still not planning to get one yourself?”

Hearing that female student’s words, Ichijou instantly understood the reasoning behind Tsubaki’s choice in vehicle. In the Lupin the 3rd anime’s feature film, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and shown in theaters over 30 years ago, the main character rode in a Fiat 500F.

“Hmm, after having someone show me the actual car, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to get one yet. The new model is pretty expensive too. Well, it’s not like it was something I was really going for anyway.”

Ichijou could sense Tsubaki deflating like a balloon after hearing those words and felt a bit sorry for him. Sakurako then bid farewell to her student and turned back to Ichijou, who instantly responded with a smile when their eyes met.

“You’ve become quite the mentor.”

“If it were up to me, I’d just stay in the research lab all day. Of course there’s no way I could actually do that, I have multiple lectures to give every week.”

Being a graduate student of the Archaeology Research Laboratory, Sakurako researched ancient characters. She met Yusuke at the university, and 13 years ago, the information she deciphered from the excavated artifacts from Kurougake Ruins proved to be extremely valuable in dealing with the Unidentified Lifeform cases. Thanks to her, Kuuga was able to change form and become stronger. Watching Sakurako as she walked in front of him, Ichijou thought about how much that small frame had to bear during that time. The fact that her ID card still displayed the surname “Sawatari” could be evidence that she still wanted to carry on her feelings from those days. As Ichijou reflected over all of this, he could not help but to continue to wish that she could continue to involve herself with the research that she loved so dearly.

They eventually reached the nostalgic Archaeology Research Laboratory. It was a place that Ichijou often visited along with Yusuke. The equipment and the computers have been replaced with new models, but the layout of the room, including the desk, had remained almost unchanged as if time had stopped in the room. Of course, the peculiar mask that Yusuke had brought over from his trip to some country had remained as well.

“A charm that shields against not only disaster, but luck with men as well, that mask.”

Sakurako smiled as she poured coffee into a siphon. Ichijou returned that smile with his own while he gazed at the overwhelming amount of doc.u.ments scattered about the room. It appeared that the relationship between Shinano and Jounan University that started 13 years ago involving the excavated artifacts still continued, albeit at a snail’s pace. Their excavation team would bring any new artifacts to this laboratory, with Sakurako doing most of the examination.

“There are two reasons why I wanted to meet with you in person…”

Sakurako first showed Ichijou a photograph depicting the restored state of a stone monument.

“What’s this? I don’t exactly have any memory of this monument.”

“Yes, a couple years ago we discovered an unpublished thesis Professor Natsume had left behind. Using it as a basis, we did a reinvestigation and restored the excavated fragments into what it is now. Among the thesis, there was some fragmented words that caught my attention…”

Sakurako directed Ichijou and Tsubaki towards the desk, which displayed the translation results of an inscription. Towards the end of the sentence were two highlighted sections, “Coffin of Darkness” and “Coffin of Light”.

“Coffin of Darkness and Coffin of Light…”

“Yes, here is how the sentence would be read. ‘The Coffin of Darkness must be protected along with the great Coffin of Light. The Coffin of Darkness must not be forgotten.’”

Hearing those words, Tsubaki joined in the conversation.

“Coffin of Darkness… No. 0’s coffin was hidden under the great warrior Kuuga’s coffin, so wouldn’t it be telling us not to forget about that?”

“No, if I recall correctly, No. 0 was sealed under the earth. It had no coffin.”

“Is that so…”

“That’s right. After looking at this from another angle, I noticed something about the Linto word meaning ‘room’. It refers to a certain part of a building, but there might be more to it than that, seeing as how the word is even used when describing a building with only one room. The word itself appears to be derived from their word for ‘coffin’ as well.”

“So you’re saying that Kurougake Ruins itself may very well be that great Coffin of Light...and there may be another coffin elsewhere…”

Sakurako gave a small nod before continuing.

“Yes. There is the possibility that there may be a smaller set of ruins where Grongi are being sealed.”

Ichijou unconsciously met eyes with Tsubaki, but quickly turned away and grew quiet. The possibility that he had been so desperately trying to deny was about to become reality. There were about 200 Grongis sealed around the Kurougake Ruins. Even if it may be on a smaller scale, the idea that there may be unknown Grongis laying in some other ruins just waiting to be resurrected was terrifying.

“Wait, hold on.”

Those words came from Tsubaki.

“Back in the area where No. 40 first appeared, wasn’t there evidence of a huge slaughter of Unidentified Lifeforms? What was it that you wrote in your final report for that incident again?”

“It was but mere conjecture, but my theory was that No. 0 may have eliminated any Grongi that wasn’t qualified for partic.i.p.ating in their games.”

“Taking into account No. 0’s overwhelming strength, I suppose it would be extremely unlikely that any Unidentified Lifeforms escaped from its wrath.”

“Right. That would mean that someone must have awakened slumbering Grongis that had not been resurrected yet.”

“Do you have any idea on who that someone could be?”

“...I can’t say that I don’t.”

The figure of that someone floated up clearly in the back of Ichijou’s head. The one whose chest had a bullet lodged in by Ichijou’s hand. Unidentified Lifeform No. B-1...the rose-tattooed woman. The fear that had been lurking deep in his heart since that day was close to becoming a reality. Seeing Ichijou remain in silence, Sakurako cut in hesitantly.

“Sorry to b.u.t.t in, but…”

“...Oh, right, you said there were two reasons why you wanted us to see you.”

“Yes...please come with me.”

Ichijou and Tsubaki accompanied Sakurako out of the research lab. Exiting the Literature Department, they crossed an overpa.s.s that lead to the Agriculture Department, which had numerous greenhouses meant for research purposes lined up in the back. Research on pesticide-free crops and hydroponic cultivation was supposedly done here. Entering one of them and heading past the vegetation, they suddenly came across a raised-floor-style shed of an alarming height. The nameplate displayed the words “Administrator - Archaeology Research Laboratory”. Sakurako disengaged the electronic lock with her ID card, and the giant doors not unlike those of a Stevenson screen opened up, revealing the giant fossilized body of Kuuga’s partner laying silently.

“Gouram…”

Having not seen it for such a long time, Ichijou let out his voice without thinking. Gouram...an artificial lifeform with the form of a stag beetle, an artifact of the Linto’s advanced technology. The ancient language carved on its head read:

“Come, taking the form of a beetle, and serve as armor for the horse.”

Resurrecting as if to respond to the feelings of Yusuke who had become Kuuga, the Gouram treated the cutting-edge motorcycle bike Trychaser 2000 and its upgraded model, Beatchaser 2000, as the “horse” and fused with them. Outside of increasing its speed, it also served as protective armor and a means to float in the air. By itself, it helped Kuuga manage midair combat. After Yusuke had disappeared, it returned to its fossilized state and no longer gave off any signs of life. After detailed scientific a.n.a.lyses, it was returned to Jounan University two years ago. After sufficient research data was gathered from it, there were plans to donate it to a museum. However, due to Sakurako’s persistent demands, it was agreed to have the Gouram remain on campus grounds due to the history it had with it. Having seen the Gouram in action, Sakurako was unable to see it as just a fossil. The Gouram was about as large as a 3-meter long automobile, and Sakurako’s administration term was only to last for 2 years. She decided to take advantage of this time and do all she could for the Gouram, asking to have it be surrounded by the smell of the gra.s.s that it loves so that it could rest peacefully.

“Man, it sure has been a while since I’ve seen it...I forgot how big it was.”

Tsubaki came in and shoved himself in between Ichijou and Sakurako.

“Yes. At its current state, it weighs about 150 kilograms.”

“It’s that heavy!?”

Tsubaki purposely acted surprised in an exaggerated manner, but Ichijou brought the conversation back on track.

“More importantly, what was the second reason for bringing me here?”

“Right, well...the Gouram may have moved.”

“...It moved!?”

That was a shocking development. The Gouram was an artificial lifeform created by the Linto for the sole purpose of aiding the warrior Kuuga. It’s revival signified the return of the current Kuuga...Yusuke.

“It was about a month ago. The students of the Agriculture Department said that they had heard a sound coming from this shed… I went to check it out, and the Gouram had indeed slipped off its pedestal. But there’s been many earthquakes these past few years, so it’s possible that it could have slightly shifted its position bit by bit until finally losing its balance.”

Ichijou nodded, agreeing with that thought process.

“But I saw that image of the white Kuuga on the internet…”

“So you saw it too…”

“Yes...it was just about at the same time too…”

Sakurako brushed her hand across the Gouram’s head as if she was petting it, and continued on with a tinge of melancholy on her face.

“I...always a.s.sumed that the Amadam within G.o.dai-kun would be something that would disappear some day after the fighting was over… I then recently indirectly asked Tsubaki-san about it, and he told me that the Amadam was something that fused with the organs and the nervous system, meaning that it wouldn’t be at all surprising for the Amadam to eventually restore itself on its own in about 10 years or so…”

“I’m sorry, I was just...answering honestly.”

“No, it’s fine, I’m glad you told me. Besides, I’m sure G.o.dai-kun was already prepared for that happening… He even said himself that his body might continue to serve the purpose of battle until the day he dies…”

Ichijou, who had heard those words as well, shared Sakurako’s complicated feelings.

“After he fought for the first time back in Nagano...he fell into a slumber as if he had died… When he woke up and flashed me that familiar smile...I ended up telling him that I wanted him to come back to Tokyo, that I didn’t want him to transform and fight anymore… And then, his face suddenly grew serious for a moment. ‘It’d be nice if I could just go back to being just an adventure lover, I’m never going to get used to that sensation’, he said, clenching his fists… That’s why...I wanted him to just be an adventurer lover the next time we met…:

“I feel the same.”

Ichijou finally spoke. Matters kept moving towards an undesired direction. Ichijou wanted to continue believing that their reunion with that man would be under pleasant circ.u.mstances, but that belief had been falling apart.

Tsubaki left to the parking lot to bring the car over, as Ichijou and Sakurako slowly made their way to the back gate. Ichijou pondered over just how many times they must have walked together here along with G.o.dai. Seeing how long the signature ivy vines that wrapped around the Literature Department building had grown, the reality of how much time had pa.s.sed since then hit Ichijou deeply.

“I’m sorry...I had you come here only to end up informing you about all these ambiguous developments…”

“Nonsense. It’s our job to grasp the truth out of the mountain of information we gather, so if you figure out anything else, don’t hesitate to contact me.”

Continuing that fragmented back-and-forth, they eventually reached the back gate. Tsubaki came out of the parked Fiat 500F and came up to them as if he couldn’t wait any longer.

“Well then, I’ll be off.”

As if trying to outdo Ichijou’s courteous farewell, Tsubaki casually lifted one hand as he spoke.

“Goodbye Sakurako-san, hopefully we’ll see each other again soon.”

Then, as Tsubaki turned around elegantly and headed for his car, Sakurako stepped forward with a “Wait!”

“Yes?”

Tsubaki was the first to turn around, but Sakurako’s eyes were in Ichijou’s direction.

“If you happen to meet with G.o.dai-kun, could you tell him something for me?”

“...What do you want me tell him?”

“...Tell him that security is tighter now, so I can’t leave the window to the research lab open like before...and I can’t be here all night anymore either, so don’t come during the night.”

Seeing Sakurako’s smile as she poured out her feelings into her words, Ichijou could not help but feel touched.

There are people waiting for you. It doesn’t matter if you can’t give them the same smile you made in the past. Everyone just wants to see you again. That’s all. If you’ve come back, why haven’t you shown yourself to us yet? Just what could be going on?

As Ichijou returned to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department in Tsubaki’s car, those were the only thoughts that raced across the back of his mind.

“...I suppose there’s still no helping it, G.o.dai…”

Ichijou suddenly murmured those words and looked up at the sky from behind the window. The blue that stretched as far as you could see. The more clear and blue it was, the farther away it felt.

 

“Ichijou-san! Where have you been?”

Upon returning to the Investigation Department 1st Office, Ichijou was immediately dragged away by his wrist as Mika, without even taking the time to explain what was going on, brought him to the small meeting room that formerly served as an investigations headquarters. Upon the numerous folding tables within the room lied piles of doc.u.ments regarding the deaths caused by the anaphylactic shock incidents.

Immediately after returning from Kyoto, Mika had been coordinating with the jurisdiction in regards to thorough investigation involving the articles of the deceased. With data from the victims’ computers and cellphones being closely examined as well, she was doing all she could to find proof that connected to the cases.

“I just finished organizing the reports about 2 hours ago. To be honest, I really couldn’t wait any longer.”

“Sorry I took so long. Tsubaki had me visit Jounan University on little notice.”

“...Let me guess, you went to see Sakurako-san?”

“Oh, so you’ve been to see her there too.”

“Yes. She’s done a lot for me back then, and I often visited her in regards to continuing my father’s research. Although, I haven’t seen her at all since I joined the police force.”

“I see. I should’ve talked to her about you too, I suppose it slipped my mind.”

“It’s no problem. I haven’t been in contact with her at all for so long and I was having trouble writing to her, but now I have something to write about.”

“I’m not asking you to go see her, but she’s probably going to be more involved with our investigations in the future, so I’d recommend to at least send her your greetings.”

“Understood.”

“Well then, why don’t you tell me why you dragged me down here?”

“Oh, that’s right! We haven’t had any of this in a while, Ichijou-san!”

Mika threw out an enthusiastic thumbs-up, suggesting that significant progress had been made.

“Be sure to look over the reports thoroughly later. I’ll just explain the main points for now.”

While talking, Mika sat Ichijou in front of her computer. She was planning on showing him the data she obtained while she explained.

“Basically, Rin Togibe is definitely involved with the cases.”

“You sound pretty confident.”

“Everything’s come together.”

Ichijou was first shown a list of the victims. They were ordered by estimated time of death: Youichi Akashi, Shoudai Aoyama, Tooru Kimura, Mitsuoki Ariga, Ryou Minowa, Hiroki Tooyama, Akira Furubayashi, Shingo Kusakabe, Kiyo Watarai. 9 victims in total. By clicking the icons next to the victims, information regarding their rooms and related articles would be displayed.

“First things first. We confirmed that both Minowa and Kimura had posters and CDs in their room, correct? Then, we discovered that both Akashi and Aoyama had special cell phone straps affiliated with the Rin Togibe fan club. Next, we have the college students Ariga, Tooyama, and Kusakabe. These 3 all lived in dorms away from their family, so we were unable to get any information by asking them. However, after the families cleaned out the victims’ rooms, a significant amount of merchandise was discovered.

“And just like that, 7 people are confirmed to be adhering to your conclusion.”

“But it was from there on that it got tough.”

“48-year old Furubayashi-san and 74 year-old Watarai-san…”

“I’ve talked with Furubayashi-san’s family multiple times already, and not even the syllable ‘To’ in Rin Togibe came up. He also apparently gave off a strict and rigorous impression to others while he worked at an elementary school in Nagoya as the princ.i.p.al. I checked his computer to see if there was anything, but there wasn’t a single thing that suggested any affiliation. Again, I continued to ask his family if there was anything they knew, to the point where they scolded me for being so persistent.”

“It’s impressive that you kept going even after that.”

“I decided to change my point of view. To the red blue yellow pattern.”

She was referring to the theory that the targets were based on Rin Togibe’s debut single.

“Didn’t we agree that that was kind of reaching too hard?”

“We did, and it was perfectly natural to a.s.sume that. But it turns out that that wasn’t the case at all!”

Mika then showed Ichijou a picture depicting one of Rin Togibe’s handshake conferences. All the partic.i.p.ants had name plates hanging from their necks. By having their name written on there, Rin would eventually call them up by that name for a handshake with her.

“Those plates also serve as an admission permit of sorts, so they’re always collected by the end of the event. If you look carefully at this image, you’ll see that some people aren’t using their real names. That’s why I used that point of view in further investigating the victims.”

“I see.”

“The first three names were pretty straightforward. ‘Aka(Red), Ao(Blue), Ki(yellow)’, right?”

Mika once again displayed the list of the victims, and upon clicking the column, the background color of the names changed to red, blue, and yellow respectively. She even put effort into the small details of her presentation.

“Next, is Ariga Mitsuoki-san, who apparently was often called ‘Akamitsu’ since his middle school days. You would think that ‘Arimitsu’ would be the more logical naming scheme, but there was actually a Mitsuteru Arita in the same cla.s.s, so ‘Arimitsu’ was already taken.”

While Mika continued talking, she changed the background color of Ariga Mitsuoki to red.

“Next we have Minowa-san who was a fan of the comedian Okada-san from ‘Masuda Okada’. As such, he would often shout out ‘Minowao!’ when surprised, leading to him receiving the nickname ‘Wao’. Minowa himself would write this nickname using romanization.”

“So the ‘Ao’ of ‘Wao’, huh?”

“Yes!”

To be able to grasp a lead using trivial information was quite the feat.

“Now Tooyama-san would be yellow due to the ‘Ki’ in ‘Hiroki’, and we’ll skip Kimura-san for now. So now we’re at Shingo Kusakabe-san, and after looking into his name, I ran into this blog here.”

Displayed was a travel blog written by Kusakabe.

“Kusakabe-san loved transportation vehicles, including railroads and buses. These past years, he was really into boats, and had his blog name changed to the name of a boat that sailed to and from Shodoshima’s Kusakabe Port.”

Upon clicking the profile, a picture was displayed depicting a ship that travelled between Takamatsu and Shodoshima. Written on the bow of the ship in big letters was…

“‘BLUELINE’...”

The blog name had become ‘Blueline 45’. The ‘45’ is most likely based off his first name ‘Shingo’.(The name Shingo uses similar p.r.o.nunciation as the numbers 4 and 5 in j.a.panese, “Shi” and “Go” respectively) Including the ‘Ki’ from Kiyo Watarai-san, we now have 8 out of 9 of the victims following my theorized pattern. We can then a.s.sume that the 7th victim, Furubayashi-san, must have had some kind of nickname in relation to ‘Red’ or ‘Aki’, right? So I ended up asking his wife about it and…”

“And everything finally fell into place?”

“No, it was to no avail. His email address was a play on word on ‘Furubayashi’ to ‘Furudanaki’, and his official school blog simply had the t.i.tle ‘Princ.i.p.al Blog’. I couldn’t find any unique names used at all…”

“...!”

“I eventually came to a stalemate, and ended up just staring at the name ‘Furubayashi’ on my desk… And that’s when Sugita-san came poking in going ‘Oh, Akai(Red) Tractor, huh?’”

“Akai Tractor…!”

“Of course, I responded with ‘What are you talking about?’”

“I see now… If you were to read the characters as ‘Kobayashi’ instead of ‘Furubayashi’, you would get ‘Akira Kobayashi’...!”

“I knew someone of your age would get it!”

Back in the 70’s, there was a famous star known as Akira Kobayashi, who was both a movie actor and a singer. In the year 1977, a song he sang for an agriculture machinery commercial t.i.tled “Akai Tractor” grew immensely popular. It would not be at all surprising if a nickname of similar sort existed.

“But nothing like that came up when you talked with his family, right?”

“Correct. But I used that realization as a clue. I abbreviated ‘Akai Tractor’ to ‘Aka Tora(first 2 characters of the j.a.panese word for tractor)’ and used that as a keyword along with ‘Rin Togibe’ when searching on the internet.”

“And did anything come up?”

“Yes! A user that went by the handle ‘Akai Tractor’ came up! He was apparently one of Rin’s most hardcore fans, and was quite concerned over the fact that she had suddenly stopped posting new blog entries. After investigating the internet provider and IP address under Criminal Affairs Article 197, I discovered it was indeed Furubayashi-san. But that wasn’t the only thing I discovered.”

Mika clicked the star mark in Akira Furubayashi’s information column, revealing an image of a key.

“What’s this?”

“The key to a one-room apartment that had its address registered in his internet provider’s contract. It was found in one of his pants’ pockets, not even his family knew about its existence. The apartment is about a 7-minute walk away from the second-closest station from his workplace.”

The building displayed was on high ground, a place where you could enjoy the nice breeze. The room was only 30 square meters large, but because it was far from the center of the city, the rent was less than $500. For a man of his position to rent a place like this in secret, the average person would suspect that a lover would be involved. But upon further examining the photos taken of the room, Ichijou felt a bit shocked. The room was cluttered with almost exclusively Rin Togibe related merchandise, showing that it was a room dedicated to her. Dozens of Rin posters hanged on the walls carefully framed, and the bookshelves were crammed with magazines and gravure collections along with what appeared to be bluray video recordings. A large retractable screen was installed above the window that served the purpose of displaying Rin’s charm from a projector.

“Furubayashi-san kept this room a secret from everyone. It’s likely that this was the only place where he could fully express his feelings as Rin’s fan…”

“So that must be why he used an internet alias that not even his family knew about.”

“After talking with his mother, I learned that he was often teased with the name ‘Akai Tractor’ around the end of his elementary school years, and it seems that he resented that.”

“...Looks like the Red Blue Yellow pattern has come together perfectly.”

While speaking those words, Ichijou felt a slight pang of sorrow. All these nicknames and online handles of the victims served as small windows to fragments of their lives. To think that the simple innocence behind their origins eventually lead to their murder. But as if to sever off that sentimentality, Mika continued the topic.

“Do you what these things are? The things stacked in the corner of this room like a tower right here.”

“...CD’s?”

“Yes. They’re all first print editions of an alb.u.m Rin released 3 months ago.”

“They’re all the same CD? There’s got to be more than 100 of them there, right?”

“I believe there were 108 of them.”

“Why so many of the same thing?”

“To get the ‘One Free Anything Ticket’”

“‘One Free Anything Ticket’?”

“As part of a national event, Rin had each first print edition CD come packaged with a ‘One Free Anything Ticket’. Not only would it allow you to shake hands with her, you’d be allowed to say whatever you want to her for one second. Plus it would all take place in a ‘Maid Booth’, to emulate the feeling of being alone with her.”

“Just 1 second?”

“If you talk fast enough, you could probably fit in about 8 words. Something like ‘I love you’ would be no problem.”

“Even so…”

“That’s why the most hardcore of fans who wanted to fully express their love would buy numerous copies of the same CD. 10 CDs would mean 10 seconds, 100 CDs would mean 100 seconds, and so on.”

“What a world we live in.”

“There has been some criticism over the campaign, such as it being too officious. Although on Rin Togibe’s official blog, she mentioned ‘One ticket per person please.’ She said that even one second would be enough for her to understand their love. Might as well have the tickets limited to one person each from the start then, right? But in response to that complaint, the record company simply stated ‘We have no intention to take away the right from those who desire them.’ ….Ahhh it just drives me nuts!”

“Now now, calm down. Why was it that you brought up the ‘One Free Anything Ticket’ in the first place?”

“Oh, that’s right, I’m sorry… So far, 8 of the victims had each purchased over 20 copies of this CD. Meaning…”

“They were in contact with Rin Togibe at the handshake conference for an extended period of time…”

“From Rin Togibe’s point of view, those people were the easiest targets for her. She’s apparently well known for staring into the eyes of her fans while shaking hands with them, so it’s without a doubt that she took that chance to materialize a jellyfish tentacle-like limb and sting them.”

At this point, Mika was dead set on Rin Togibe being a Grongi, the perpetrator behind the cases.

“But how did the 9th person, Kiyo Watarai-san, become one of the victims? She couldn’t have attended that handshake conference, right?”

“Correct. I couldn’t find anything about her coming into contact with Rin Togibe. I was at a complete loss. But Kiyo-san was indeed in Nagoya on the day of the event, so with my final shred of hope, I decided to visit Gifu early this morning.”

“You went to Gifu and made it back before noon!? I’m impressed you were even able to complete your report.”

“I finished about 80% of it on the way back on the bullet train.”

Expecting Ichijou’s surprise, Mika replied with a smile.

“Above all, it was really thanks to Matsukura-san that I got this far.”

“Matsukura-san?”

“Yes! The Matsukura-san that used to be the Head Chief Investigator. He’s apparently now working on ceramics in Nakatsugawa.”

Ichijou knew she must have heard about that from Sugita.

“I remembered that Kiyo-san’s son told me that she had friends who worked on ceramics too. I was hoping that if Matsukura-san knew them, then he could come with me so I wouldn’t feel too uncomfortable talking to them...and my decision turned out to be a success! By the time I arrived, all of Kiyo-san’s friends were gathered in one place, along with a really approachable atmosphere to boot!”

Not only was Ichijou taken aback by hearing Matsukura’s name come out from Mika’s mouth, he was also surprised at her boldness in asking a favor from a such a prominent senior whom she never even met before. Ichijou could not help but be impressed at seeing her recklessness pay off so well.

“On the day Kiyo-san and her friends visited the Toyko Tower, when they decided to head for Oosukannon, Kiyo-san suggested an idea saying ‘Since the weather’s so nice, how about we walk there?’”

“The distance between Tokyo Tower and Oosukannon is about 5 kilometers… I suppose it would have been no problem for someone who walked as much as Kiyo-san.”

“Upon arriving at Oosukannon, she realized she was hungry, and headed to a miso stew shop behind Banshoji. She then inadvertently pa.s.sed the shop, causing everyone to shout after her telling her to stop. It was then that a girl with gla.s.ses came out of the shop and shouted after Kiyo-san too. And that girl was Rin Togibe, who had just left the handshake conference and was having a meal with her manager. Kiyo-san and her friends did not know about her, it was through photos that I had them confirm she was there.”

“Was there any direct contact between them?”

“Yes. After Rin Togibe learned that Kiyo-san and her friends had walked all the way from Tokyo Tower to the shop, she asked to shake their hands saying ‘I want to receive some of that energy you lovely ladies have.’ Apparently her handshake with Kiyo-san lasted the longest…”

“So after hearing the name ‘Kiyo-san’, she sought to complete the missing ‘yellow’ piece…(Ki is yellow in j.a.panese) But why would she go out of her way to choose someone from a completely different place than the other 8 people, along with having no connections to them whatsoever?”

“According to Kusakabe-san’s Twitter, his turn at the handshake conference was scheduled towards the end. It’s possible that there weren’t any other fans at the event afterwards who had ‘Ki(Yellow)’ in their name.”

“...So she got Red Blue Yellow, Red Blue Yellow, and then wanted to finish up the last set?”

“It’s possible. Or perhaps she found that having just 8 people didn’t feel right.”

“Didn’t feel right?”

“Yes. For example, back when I was studying english in high school, I decided to have a goal of memorizing 10 words per day. Restaurants will also have ‘Meals Limited to 10’ events, but you never see ‘Limited to 11’ or ‘Limited to 9’ or anything like that. I believe that’s because we normally work on a decimal system, aka base 10.”

“Ah...so you’re saying she worked on a base 9 system!”

Ichijou recalled that the Grongi tribe used a base 9 numbering system. This