Chapter 89

When I came to, I was running. I bolted out of the university grounds and tore through the streets, single-minded. Despair outweighed exhaustion so much that my ragged breathing didn't even matter.

Inside my head, memories of the person I treasure spun round and round. Memories of kindness. Memories of being saved from the bullies. All of them precious treasures.

Then, suddenly, they blackened, grew muddy, and vanished. Anyone would know despair if what they treasured were destroyed before their eyes. That's exactly what this feels like.

"Why... Why...!"

My legs hit their limit and, staggering, I sink onto the riverbank levee. I sit right on the ground and curl up. I tried to escape the rising regret by thinking of nothing... It was useless.

If I hadn't spoken the truth, he would never have revealed his final motive. I would never have heard such a despicable motive—killing people just because he was rejected.

I berate myself for having exposed the truth. And then a colder version of me spits at the self who keeps blaming me: "In solving a case, sentiment is useless."

Honestly, I couldn't agree with either side. It's absurd. I'd forced myself to be ruthless toward others, yet when it came to myself, I grew weak...

I grew even more afraid.

At the approaching footsteps I absent-mindedly looked around. There stood the President who had chased after me. My heart filled with guilt toward him; apologizing was all I could manage.

"I'm sorry... President... I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry..."

"H-hey, hold on... I have no idea what you're apologizing for..."

"I told you before, didn't I... back when the case happened at the apartment your grandma runs... 'Being family isn't a reason not to suspect them... I hate unconditionally excluding relatives from suspicion or covering up their crimes just because they're family,' I said..."

"...Yeah, I remember that. So you suspected my grandma?"

"Yes. And yet, in this case, the whole time I was thinking the opposite! I kept wishing my precious Kiriyama... senpai wasn't the culprit!"

The President shook his head sideways. For a moment I just gaped, not understanding what it meant.

He went on to explain the reason properly.

"What you're saying, what you're thinking—none of it's wrong."

"Huh, but... I... suspected your... grandma... and didn't want to suspect Kiriyama-senpai..."

"Look, Hyoga..."

"...What is it? What do you mean?"

Maybe what I'd asked him was something very difficult. Perhaps no one could listen to such complaints and simply say, "I see. Then I'll give you an answer."

That's what I'd thought.

Yet he said it.

"You know what? People's feelings and intentions don't contradict each other. There are times you suspect someone thoroughly, and times you believe in someone thoroughly. That's only natural. Living people—sometimes emotions sway intentions. When that happens, just go with the emotion."

"B-but..."

"You're afraid going with emotion will lead to disaster... Don't worry. You had intention. It'll stop you right before things go too far. That's what you did, right? The flame of intention you held in your heart, stronger than emotion, let you expose the truth without running! You faced your fear!"

He gave an answer to my doubts.

A cold wind brushed my cheeks, and the surrounding grass began to rustle. My heart had calmed considerably, and I realized my own words were becoming gentler.

"Thank you... Hearing you say that, being praised like that, makes me feel lighter. My emotional turmoil was only natural, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it's not weakness. In fact, it's the strength to face the truth. You did the right thing."

The setting sun lit him up, dazzling me. I truly thought he was wonderful. Yes, there's a gap between his looks and personality, but more than anything, the kindness and sense of justice he was born with were shining.

I couldn't hold my head up before such a person.

"President, you're amazing. To give an answer to something like this... I'm always in your debt. All I do is expose truths through reasoning I never even wanted to do. I'm no use to you, President."

"Hey, hey. Getting all modest again?"

"Huh?"

What did I do?

"Your heart helped me plenty already. About Grandma, remember?"

"At the time, I only suspected her and accused the wrong person as the culprit. And I arrested someone you knew. I figured I'd earned your hatred... not your thanks..."

"Seriously! You always downplay yourself at times like this! What's your type? Not tsundere or mental-hermit or anything. That 'nervous laugh'... was that about me?"

"President!? Tell me!"

When I pressed him, the President echoed that statement of mine—the very words I'd feared had hurt him deeply.

"'Being family isn't a reason not to suspect them,' you said."

"Huh?"

"About Grandma. She'd been acting a little strange even before that incident..."

"Acting strange?"

"Like she hated someone, or something like that... Like she bore malice toward something..."

"Um, malice? From what I sensed, she didn't seem to show that much malice..."

At first I wondered if it was about an illness. But the more I listened, the less it seemed that way.

"That's what you'd think on the surface, right? But take a look inside the room. Remember the parcel next to the insecticide spray?"

When I thought back, it was there in my memory—one item I hadn't touched because it didn't seem related to the case.

"It was filled with fumigation pesticide."

"Fumigation... you mean the kind that kills insects with smoke...? Huh? If she'd used that in that apartment...!?"

"Yeah. All the insects the other tenants kept, and the precious ones she kept herself—every last one would've died..."

"But... that doesn't necessarily mean she was going to use it there..."

"That's what I thought. So I swapped the fumigant for fireworks of a similar shape... And sure enough, when I was staking the place out, she showed her tail... Grandma... Right there in one of the apartment rooms... a spectacular fountain firework it was."

"Something like that...!?"

"I didn't want to believe it, but that's the truth... From what I heard, after Grandpa passed away she grew desperate. And with all the talk of murder around her, she stopped valuing life... and did it. She was even planning to take her own life, it seems."

"No! That can't be!"

The President's face, which had been tinged with sorrow, instantly turned bright again, shining like the sun.