Kouta came to the building he'd been going to every day now. He was going to see Marie. She'd let him stay there for the time being, as his house was no longer safe. Marie became someone Kouta felt like he could trust, someone he could confide in. He came to her room, 9-J.
He automatically looked to his left upon entry. Marie was there working at her computer like always. She usually seemed happy, but this time she looked concerned.
Kouta was holding a plastic shopping bag. He'd went to get something to eat from the convenience store. He unwrapped a hamburger and bit into it. "Morning." he said with his mouth full.
Marie looked up, blinking a few times as if she hadn't noticed him walk in. "Oh, morning. Did you hear the news?"
Kouta sat on the bed, living his life in the moment. That moment was his hamburger. He took another bite. "News? Why would I care about the news?"
Marie took off her reading glasses and set them aside. She spun around in her chair to face Kouta, with her legs crossed. "There was a murder at Iwasaki High School two days ago. I thought you knew."
Kouta blanked out for a second. His mind raced a million miles a second. A murder? Kouta stood up abruptly. "Who?! What happened?!"
Marie folded her arms. "Apparently a kid named Nomura Rin was killed."
Kouta's mouth hung open. He dropped his food. "Rin...was killed?"
She nodded. "The suspects are two girls. One of them was your friend Kasumi."
Kouta felt his heart sink. His eyes opened up. He knew exactly what happened with no further explanation needed. Rin tried to kill Kasumi and Yumi.
"Who killed him? Did you send someone to protect them already?" he asked.
Marie shook her head no. "I have no clue who did it. But there was no evidence left behind, so it must have been a vector."
Kouta ran to the door and swung it open.
Marie turned in her chair. "Kouta, stop! I know what you're thinking. It's not a good idea. Don't get yourself involved with this"
Kouta's face darkened. "It's my fault they got mixed up in all of this in the first place. I'm going regardless of how good or bad of an idea it is."
Kouta left and shut the door.
He ran out the back door and ran down a back alley. He ran up on a man that looked familiar. Black suit, slick black hair. Abe Shinya.
"Why is he here?" Kouta thought to himself.
He ran past the man until an arm reached out and grabbed his collar.
Kouta jerked back as he was stopped. "Hey, what're you doing?! Trying to choke me?!"
Shinya calmly turned around and looked at him. "This is my territory. What is a child like you doing here?"
"My friend's in trouble, I have to go see her!! Let me go!"
Shinya's demeanor remained calm. "Answer my question."
Kouta glared at him. "I don't have to answer you!! Now let go!"
Shinya's eyes glowed lavender for a second. "Ah. So this is about the murder that happened at Iwasaki High School not too long ago."
Kouta paused. "How do you know that?"
"It's none of your business." Shinya let go of Kouta's shirt and calmly returned to walking down the alley. "You can go now. Something else has caught my attention."
Kouta shook his head to clear his mind. He continued running away.
--
He soon came back to his old neighborhood.
He ran down the street and headed to Kasumi's house. He knocked on the door. "Kasumi? Kasumi! Are you in there?!"
He stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath, when Kasumi quietly opened the door.
She seemed surprised to see him. "Kouta?"
For a second Kouta caught her face in a depressed state, until she brightened up.
"Kouta it's really you!!" she exclaimed, hugging him.
Kouta grabbed her shoulders and broke her away. "Are you alright? What happened? I just heard that Rin was killed."
Kasumi invited him inside. She told him what happened.
"So Rin was killed from a distance?" Kouta asked.
Kasumi nodded. "I saw something almost invisible shoot through the air."
Kouta stood up from the sofa. "Where's Yumi?"
"I was on the phone with her last night, but it sounded like her mother came home with someone else and she never came back. I tried calling her several times since then and I got no answer."
Kasumi purposefully left out the details of the investigator, Kurihara Takeshi. She didn't want Kouta to know that she'd gone into his house. She especially didn't want him seeing what was on his phone.
Her gaze wandered to Kouta. He was shaking with anger.
"What's wrong?" Kasumi asked him.
Kouta's fists bled from how hard he clenched his hands.
"I... know who did this."
Kasumi gave Kouta her full attention. "You know who did it? You mean who killed Rin?"
Kouta shook with rage. "No, but I know who put him up to it. This is my fault. All of it."
Kasumi reached a hand out. "Kouta? What do you mean, 'it's your fault'?"
Kouta closed his eyes. "All of this is my fault!! None of this wouldn't have happened if I'd just..."
Kasumi put her hand down. "Let's just calm down, okay? It's not your fault..."
"Yes it is!!" Kouta looked at Kasumi with what she could only understand as guilt. "You have traces of cigarette smoke on you."
Kasumi's eyes widened. Kouta could smell it. The cigarette smell that littered his house. He knew she'd been inside, which also means he knows that there's something she didn't tell him. He knew what was on his phone without needing to see it. Kouta already could tell what happened.
Kouta ran for the door. Kasumi yelled out after him. "Kouta!! Where are you going?!"
Kouta answered yelling back. "I'm going to find Yumi!! Whatever it takes!!"
Kasumi worriedly watched him leave as Kouta quietly told himself one more time, "Whatever it takes."