Sato Kasumi laid down on her living room sofa. It had only been a day since the incident on the roof of Iwasaki High. It was hard to believe that it all wasn't just a dream. Just yesterday Kasumi had an actual sword to her throat. She thought she would die. Considering how unbelievable the situation was, she decided not to say anything to her parents. They were never home anyway.
The house was quiet. The only noise present was the sound of water boiling in the kitchen.
Kasumi jerked up on the sofa when she heard the doorbell ring.
"Kouta?" she wondered. After all, Murakami Kouta was the only person who usually came to her door.
She went up to the door and looked through the peephole. It was a man in a blue suit.
She quickly ducked with her back against the door. "Police?! What are they doing here?! I thought everything was over!"
The man rang the doorbell again, this time a strong knock followed. "I know you're in there, Sato Kasumi! I just want to talk with you!" he said.
Kasumi calmed down her breathing. She took a deep breath, stood up, and cracked the door open, only wide enough for one eye to show through the gap.
The man showed his badge. "Kurihara Takeshi. I'm a freelance investigator for the TPD. I wanted to discuss with you about what happened yesterday."
Kasumi hesitated, but she decided to let him in.
Takeshi walked through the doorway and looked around. "You have a very nice home here. Parents around?"
Kasumi shook her head. She avoided eye contact.
Takeshi wrote something down in his notepad. "I see... So, can you tell me what transpired on the roof of Iwasaki High yesterday? In detail, please."
Kasumi was quiet. "I-I'd rather not..."
Takeshi's eyes narrowed. "Why is that? Surely there's nothing to hide, correct? According to the report, you two were targeted by Nomura Rin."
Kasumi shyly nodded.
Takeshi wrote some more things down. He walked around the room. "Right, but see, here's what's not clear; Rin is dead. He was brutally murdered while you two got away safely. The only DNA at the scene shows you two and him. Rin didn't die of bullet wounds, so he wasn't shot."
Kasumi's eyes widened in fear.
Takeshi got up close to her face. "How did Nomura Rin die?"
Kasumi looked away. She nervously rubbed her arm up and down. "I... I don't know. I didn't see how." she said quietly.
Takeshi stood up straight. "You're lying, Sato Kasumi. He died before your eyes, did he not? If you can't tell me who killed him, then I have the authority to arrest you under suspicion of first degree murder."
Kasumi slowly backed up. "No... It wasn't me! I don't know who did it, I swear!"
Takeshi wrote one last thing down before putting the notebook in his pocket. He started walking towards Kasumi. "Look, this can be super easy, or super hard. It's all up to you."
Kasumi shook her head slowly as she backed away. "No, it wasn't me! It wasn't!"
Takeshi lunged at her. "Come here!!"
Kasumi turned around and ran before he caught her.
Takeshi landed on the floor. He chased her to the kitchen.
Kasumi grabbed the pot of water on the stove and threw it at the entrance to the kitchen.
Takeshi was splashed with the boiling water. "Hot!!" He wiped his eyes and continued running. "Get back here!! You're under arrest!!"
Kasumi ran out the other side of the kitchen and went upstairs. She went to her bedroom and closed her door, locking it. She opened the window and jumped out. She fell on the grass before getting back up and running away.
Takeshi banged on the bedroom door. "Open up!!" He turned around and ran back down the stairs and out the front door. He checked his surroundings to see no sign of Kasumi. "Damn it!! She got away!!"
Kasumi was hiding in Kouta's house. She knew that there was a spare key taped under his mailbox, so she used that to get inside. She closed the door and locked it before Takeshi made it outside. After waiting a few seconds to calm down she dared to look out the peephole. "He's gone." she said. With a big sigh of relief, Kasumi sat back down.
After a few seconds Kasumi lifted her head. Her nose turned at the smell. "Cigarette smoke?"
She got up and cautiously walked to the living room. No one was there. She checked the kitchen, still nobody.
She looked up the stairs into the dark hall. She nervously swallowed. "Kouta? Is anybody home?" she called out.
She carefully walked up the stairs into the hallway. Kouta's room had the only open door. She peeked inside. Nobody was home.
Kasumi pinched her nose. "The smell is strong in here..." She looked at the window. It was wide open. She dared not to stick her head out, just in case someone was out there. Instead, she sat down on the bed. "Someone was here not too long ago... Did they run away when the investigator showed up?"
She noticed Kouta's cellphone on the floor with the back taken off. "Is that...?"
She picked it up. "It is, it's Kouta's phone. Why did he leave it here...?"
Kasumi turned on the phone and went through Kouta's recent text messages. He had four missed calls and six missed texts. "Who's...Jun?" She tapped on the conversation.
Jun: Why did you remove the chip?!
Jun: Murakami, answer your phone!
Jun: Where are you? I warned you about not answering my texts!
Jun: Hey!!
Jun: Hey!!
Then roughly ten minutes after that message:
Jun: If I don't hear back from you in thirty minutes, your friends are dead.
Kasumi dropped the phone and covered her mouth. She was shaking.
"No way..." Kasumi quickly checked her pockets. "I left my phone!"
She ran out the room and down the stairs. Then she stopped. "But what if the investigator is still out there..." Kasumi's heart felt like it would leap out her chest.
She realized that she was in more danger in Kouta's house than her own, so Kasumi ran out the door and back into her own house. She closed and locked the front.
Kasumi ran up to her bedroom to grab her phone. She dialed Miyazaki Yumi.
--
Yumi was laying in her bed when she heard her phone ring. She turned over and picked it up. "Kasumi? I don't really feel good right now..."
Kasumi told her what happened.
Yumi sat up. "Hm? An investigator? They think one of us killed Rin? That can't be... We're fugitives!!"
Kasumi asked if Yumi's mother was home.
"No, but she should've been back by now. Maybe she took a detour."
Kasumi told her to not let any investigators in no matter what. She also told her to cut off all the lights in the house.
Yumi stayed on the phone as she did just that. It was getting dark, but that didn't matter.
"Okay, did that. What else?"
Kasumi began to tell her about what she found in Kouta's room.
As Yumi began to process the information, she heard the front door unlock.
She sharply turned her head. "Someone's here." she said.
The door opened. Yumi's mother ran inside and hugged her.
"I heard about what happened yesterday, are you okay?! Why didn't you say anything, oh, I'm so glad you're alright!" Yumi's mother said in tears.
Kasumi yelled into the phone. "Yumi? Yumi! Are you there? What's going on?!"
Yumi wasn't hearing a word she said. She dropped her phone to the floor as she stared straight ahead with fearful eyes. "W-W-What are you doing here?" she said timidly.
She stared at the next person to walk through the door.
Her father, Miyazaki Taro.