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In a quiet, upscale mansion in a wealthy neighborhood, a man lay bleeding on the floor, gasping for the smallest breath. A figure watched him from above, features blurred by the haze that had descended over the man’s vision. His killer was only a dark shadow, an outline, and nothing registered in his mind except for the soft tapping of the rain outside. A knife, completely covered with blood all the way up to the hilt, dripped by his side.
“I’m sorry to do this to you, Wakatoshi. But I had to. There was no other choice left, and you were beginning to get suspicious.”
Ushijima Wakatoshi took his final breaths and then lay still, unable to say anything in response. His larynx had been torn by the knife, and his torso was spilling its intestines onto his polished wood floor. Although, it couldn’t be considered his floor anymore. The figure took one last look at the body, gently wiped the knife with a pristine, mint colored hand cloth, and draped it over the face of the body. He walked out of the house with a nonchalance that didn’t fit his actions. It wasn’t raining anymore.
Iwaizumi Hajime was the best detective in the city and its surrounding countryside. No matter how dead the trail seemed to be, Hajime always found a way to revive it and uncover the true culprit. No case had been left unanswered in the six years that he had been in charge, and he intended to keep it that way.
“Sir, you have an officer here for you.” Hajime glanced up from his reports at the assistant that had delivered the message, narrowing his eyes at the news. An in-person case was always serious business.
“Tell him I’m coming.” The assistant nodded and nervously closed the door behind her, leaving Hajime alone again. He switched off his lamp with a sigh, leaving only the light streaming through the windows to brighten the room. He pushed back his chair and stood up, stretching to work out the cramps he’d developed while sitting for so long. Pushing the papers into a semi-organized pile, he left his office and walked to the front of the building.
“Tobio, I wasn’t expecting another visit so soon.” The officer, Kageyama Tobio, turned his head to Hajime and nodded in greeting before handing him a sealed envelope.
“There’s been a murder. The information we’ve uncovered so far is in there, and Koushi asked me to bring you to the crime scene.” Hajime hummed as he took the envelope, pocketing it away for later examination.
“Alright, let’s go.” Tobio leads him out to the squad car, and Hajime follows, running his fingers over the envelope, itching to open it. The drive itself isn’t long, a mere ten minutes away, and Hajime notices that they’re headed for the wealthier neighborhoods.
“Who exactly is the victim?” His eyes don’t leave the landscape while he asks his question, following the thinning tree line as they enter a gated community.
“Ushijima Wakatoshi,” is his curt answer. Hajime frowned as he processed that, running through a list of people who might be suspects; anyone and everyone, as it turns out, has a reason to kill Wakatoshi, including himself. The real question is, who would go through with it?
“Set the scene for me. I won’t walk into an investigation blind, nor without a substantial starting point.”
“He was on his back, had his guts spilling out of him and onto the floor. His throat was cut open too, although even if he could’ve screamed, no one would have heard him. All the neighbors said in their statements that they were at a neighborhood gathering, and they say Wakatoshi never goes to those.” Hajime laughs mirthlessly, remembering all too well the man’s antisocial personality and blunt mannerisms.
“That doesn’t surprise me. Murder weapons?”
“Didn’t find any, but our forensics are saying it’s a knife. They’re figuring out what kind right now. There was also a hand cloth on his face, mint colored. No identifiable fingerprints, so he must have worn gloves the whole time he handled it. We found some blood splatters, but nothing of value.”
“So it’s quite a dead trail, huh?” Hajime says to himself, flipping through various plans of action and trying to decide where to start. “Signs of struggle?”
“None.” The detective allows himself a small smile as he finally uncovers a clue.
“Thank you.” They pull up beside the house and get out of the car, Hajime taking his time to examine the exterior of the house while Tobio strides ahead and inside. The house was stereotypical of Wakatoshi, old-fashioned bricks painted white and large, arching windows that never let in sunlight because he always kept the curtains shut. Nothing seemed different on the outside, except the one window through which the inside of the house could be seen. Where the curtain had been opened to let in light so that the crime scene could be examined.
When Hajime himself entered the house, he was hit with the smell of rot and decay that came with a dead body. ‘At least a day old,’ he thinks to himself.
“It’s been sitting there for over a day,” comes a voice to his left, and he recognizes one of the forensics, Tooru. “We’re suspecting a closer estimate to be 39 hours. That puts our crime at –”
“– 9 pm on Tuesday. Thank you, Tooru.” He walks past the forensic technician, giving him a thankful nod, and towards the body outline on the ground. Little yellow markers with black numbers labeled where each clue had been found, and unsurprisingly, there were only a few. Blood and tissue still stained the floor, and he did his best to step around the larger patches because there was only so much he could deal with.
From the position of the body, he’d fallen backward. The outline was clean and simple, the arms laid at the sides considerably far from the body but not enough to be deemed spread-eagle. It must’ve been a normal conversation, right before the murder. He refrains from making guesses about who it could be until he’s read the report and looked over the information he’d been compiling in his notebook. Hajime straightens from his crouch and notices Koushi talking to one of the other officers, Eita, if he remembered correctly.
“Koushi, is there anything that you found that wasn’t at the crime scene that might be helpful?” He asks once he’s next to them. Koushi frowned while he tried to remember if he had anything useful to share.
“Eita, didn’t you know Wakatoshi personally?” Eita grimaces at the question Koushi had directed towards him.
“I used to. But I won’t be much help since the last time I talked to him was almost a year ago. He and Satori were close, and so by extension, I became his friend, too. But once Kenjirou started dating him, we butted heads too often and I stopped visiting. He might be another suspect.” Hajime mulls over the statement that Eita gave him, stopping the recording and saving the file to playback later. He leaves without another word, flagging down a taxi as he loses himself to his thoughts.
Back at the office, Hajime sat down and pulled out the report, ripping the envelope open. The package didn’t matter as much as the content inside. He unfolded the paper and scanned its contents, jotting down additional notes on his pad as he found them. When he looked at the completed list of clues, he nodded to himself in satisfaction. He had enough now to narrow down the list of suspects.
If the person was close to Wakatoshi, or at least someone he would willingly invite, that meant that his viable suspects were: Kawanishi Taichi, Shirabu Kenjirou, Semi Eita, Tendou Satori, Oikawa Tooru, Yamagata Hayato, and Hinata Shouyou. However, he knew for a fact that Shouyou was still traveling as part of a deal that he was securing, so that ruled him out. And if what Eita had said was to be taken to heart, he hadn’t been in contact with Wakatoshi for ages.
At the same time, as much as he didn’t want to jump to conclusions, the cloth they had found at the scene was incriminating evidence. A mint cloth, with an embroidered T in the corner. If he took that into account, his suspects were: Kawanishi Taichi, Tendou Satori, and Oikawa Tooru. And everyone who had ever met Tooru knew about his love for the color mint. Hesitantly, he picked up the phone to call Koushi.
“Koushi, could you set up an interrogation room? I have a list of suspects I want to ask some questions… Alright, and could I have a report of what Eita and Tooru were doing two nights ago?...Perfect, thank you.”
“Interrogation begun at 15:47, Thursday, April 12, 2018. The suspect is Shirabu Kenjirou. My file says that you were Wakatoshi’s boyfriend, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Where were you on the night of his death?”
“I had a dinner party at the Lion Palace. My name was on the guest list, and the host should support my claim. I was the sponsor after all.”
“I don’t doubt that, Kenjirou. Do you know of anyone who would wish to see Wakatoshi dead?”
“Tooru was always at odds with Wakatoshi, but I’m sure you already knew that Hajime. And why was I even a suspect to begin with?”
“It’s protocol, Kenjirou, a standard that is followed for anyone even remotely connected to the incident.”
“What’s your alibi?”
“That’s not important to this interrogation, Kenjirou. Please refrain from asking any questions of your own. Finally, do you recognize this cloth?”
“It seems familiar, but I can’t say it rings any bells.”
“Thank you. The interrogation has ended”
“Hajime, do you want to go to dinner this weekend?” Hajime gripped his phone tighter, struggling to come up with a plausible excuse to give to his boyfriend. ‘Sorry, you’re a suspect in the case and I can’t let our relationship be a bias,’ sounded like a shitty excuse.
“Sorry, Tooru, the case is more hectic than I was expecting. The only suspect that could come in before the weekend was Kenjirou. I still need to interrogate Taichi, Satori, Eita...” he trailed off when he realized that the next name on his list was Tooru.
“Hajime? Are you still there?”
“Wha–? Yeah, sorry, got a little lost in thought there. And Hayato.”
“That’s alright, babe. We’ll just take a raincheck on that. I’ll get you some lab results as soon as possible.”
“Thank you. Should I cook tonight?” He felt guilty for not telling Tooru that he was a suspect, but he’d find out anyway when both he and Eita would get a message to report to the interrogation room. He’d already accepted that his fate was to sleep on the couch for the next two weeks.
“That would be great. Shigeru and I were going to stay a little later than usual to wrap up testing and finish filing some reports. Bye, love you!”
“Love you too.” The call disconnected and Hajime breathed out deeply through his nose, staring straight through the wall in front of him. He was so screwed.
“Interrogation begun at 9:25, Saturday, April 14, 2018. The suspect is Oikawa Tooru.”
“So this is why you canceled our dinner date? Wow, Hajime, I thought you trusted me.”
“Tooru, please, not now. Where were you on the night of the murder?”
“At the same courthouse you were at, awaiting the verdict of the previous case.”
“Thank you. What was your relation to Wakatoshi?”
“We were enemies. He kept harassing me to join him as a business partner, which I continually refused to be a part of. Which you know.”
“Right. Do you have an idea of who would be motivated to murder him?”
“Well, I think I’m the most likely suspect in this case, hm?”
“Tooru.”
“Fine, I think that out of the people you listed, Hayato is the most likely. They’re both rival businessmen, who admittedly had a good relationship. But Hayato might have felt threatened by Wakatoshi’s company, and so he got rid of him.”
“Thank you for your cooperation, Tooru.”
“That’s all you’ll be hearing from me, Hajime.”
“The interrogation has ended.”
“Interrogation begun at 11:31, Saturday, April 14, 2018. The suspect is Kawanishi Taichi. Taichi, how did you become friends with Wakatoshi?”
“We went to the same college and both pursued a business degree.”
“I see. Where were you the night of his murder?”
“I was at a meeting discussing our finances.”
“Our?”
“I’m Wakatoshi’s business partner, and I believe a close friend of his.”
“Indeed. Who do you think might be the killer?”
“Oikawa Tooru. He’s always had an ill will towards Wakatoshi.”
“One last thing. Do you recognize this cloth?”
“No, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it before.”
“Alright, thank you, Taichi. The interrogation has ended.”
“He’s lying about what he was doing Koushi.” He whispers to the officer once Taichi had left the room. “He kept swallowing even though I could tell his mouth was dry, and his eyes were flickering more often than they should have been. Something about his account wasn’t right.”
“I noticed that he tensed his shoulders when he saw the cloth. He knows what it is.”
“Interrogation begun at 19:40, Saturday, April 14, 2018. The suspect is Semi Eita. Where were you the night of Wakatoshi’s death?”
“On patrol all the way on the other side of town. It was my assigned route.”
“How did you know Wakatoshi?”
“Through Satori, like I said before. I know you still have a recording of the statement.”
“Bear with me, please. How did Satori bring you two together?”
“He was our mutual friend. I was close to Wakatoshi until he started dating Kenjirou, at which point I stopped contacting him.”
“Alright. What can you say about Satori’s relationship with Wakatoshi after you stopped talking to him?”
“Satori still kept in contact with Wakatoshi, which wasn’t my concern. I wasn’t going to make him stop being friends with him.”
“Noted. The interrogation has ended.”
“Hello? Tooru, I’m home.” As he pulls his shoes off, Hajime strains his ears to hear something from his boyfriend, who is definitely somewhere in the apartment. His shoes are lined up neatly against the wall, and that ugly plaid jacket that Hajime had bought him as a gag gift one Christmas was on the coat rack. When he didn’t get a response, he peeked into the living room. The tv was off and the blankets were folded up on one end of the couch. The kitchen was empty too, the lights turned off, but he saw a plate of food sitting on the counter. At least Tooru wasn’t so mad at him that Hajime would starve because of it. Finally, he tried the door that led to their bedroom–which was locked.
“Tooru? Love, are you in there?”
“Shut up, Hajime!” Hajime winced, like Tooru’s words physically hurt him.
“Look, I’m so–”
“–I don’t want to hear it! You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, asshole!” He shut his jaw and pressed his lips together until they were a thin line on his face. Without another word, he trudged to the kitchen and prepared for a restless night.
“Interrogation begun at 10:27, Sunday, April 15, 2018. The suspect is Tendou Satori. Where were you the night of the murder?”
“I was sitting at home, watching the new episode of The Awakening.”
“Where exactly do you work, Satori?”
“I’m an orthodontist. My work hours are from 7 in the morning to 8 at night.”
“Thank you. Were you familiar with Wakatoshi?”
“I was a good friend of his, all the way from high school.”
“Interesting. Do you recognize this cloth?”
“Oh yeah, one of Wakatoshi’s workers had that. Sometimes we would see each other as he left and I arrived, or vice versa, and I would see that in his breast pocket.”
“Thank you, Satori. The interrogation has ended.”
“Interrogation begun 13:16, Sunday, April 15, 2018. The suspect is Yamagata Hayato. What was your relation to Wakatoshi?”
“Despite the fact that we were opposing CEOs, I like to think we had a solid relationship. Wakatoshi wasn’t the type to have irrational anger, so we never really argued over our businesses.”
“Alright. Well, where were you when he died?”
“I had an overseas meeting in China.”
“Did you know him very well?”
“No, it was a rather business-like friendship between us.”
“Last inquiry. Do you recognize this cloth?”
“Oh? Yes, I do believe I saw one of Wakatoshi’s employees using it at a meeting. It was a long time ago, however. I can’t tell you who exactly it was.”
“That’s alright sir. You’ve given us valuable information regardless. The interrogation has ended.”
“Koushi, I’ve got a lead,” he says over the phone, running into his office as quickly as he can. “Both Hayato and Satori said the cloth belonged to one of Wakatoshi’s workers. And the only worker we’ve got on the suspect list is Kawanishi Taichi.”
“I knew he recognized that cloth! What's the motive?” Koushi asks from the other side, and Hajime knew without seeing him that he was pumping his fist in victory.
“Calm down a little. It's possible that Taichi felt that he wasn't being treated right, even though he held half of the company. No way to know for sure, since Taichi isn't a very social person. Tooru and Shigeru’s report came in earlier today, but I haven’t gotten a chance to look at it. And we still need to get a search warrant and find enough evidence to charge him for the homicide.”
“Let me handle the search warrant and arrest. You focus on making sure all the pieces fit and be prepared for a trial.”
“Got it. See you later, Koushi.” He cut the call and got to work.
The envelope he’d gotten from the forensics department was slim, and he didn’t feel any considerable weight to it. Even before he tore it open, there was a nervous tremble in his hands. The report inside was short and to the point; they’d found the last fingerprints to touch some everyday household items and discovered that the last person use the kitchen appliances belonged to none other than Kawanishi Taichi, and there were signs that a dinner had been held. Which meant that his earlier deduction was correct. He picked up his phone once again to call the forensics department.
“Tooru said you’re a piece of shit and that he still hasn’t forgiven you.” He sighed.
“Yeah, I figured, Shigeru. Listen, could you compile an evidence portfolio with all of your findings? Koushi is already off to arrest the suspect, and the court case will be going up soon enough.”
“Yeah, I can do that for you. Is that it?”
“That’s all. And, uh, tell Tooru I’m still sorry.”
“I’ll see what I can do to lessen your exilement. See you later, Hajime.”
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have hereby declared the defendant is guilty. Is that correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Very well. I sentence the defendant to life in imprisonment for the charge of first degree murder.” The judge sealed the case with a single hit of his gavel, and immediately, reporters were swarming around Hajime and Koushi. They pushed their way out of the crowd and towards the police cars outside as Taichi was led back to the cell he had been for the past day.
“There will be a press conference tomorrow regarding the trial today!” Koushi shouted in an attempt to placate the reporters enough for them to get inside the cars and drive off. It worked, and they left the crowd behind.
“Did you see Tooru?” The detective asked nervously, tugging at his cuffs. “I don’t remember when he left.”
“Try calling him from my phone. He’ll probably end any call that comes from you.”
“Ah, thank you.” Taking the offered phone, Hajime found Tooru’s contact and called him. The dial tone continued for what seemed like hours until the call connected.
“Koushi! How did the trial go?” He let himself relax when he heard Tooru’s voice on the other end. The last time he’d heard it this happy and relaxed was the day before he’d called the other in for his interrogation.
“Uh, yeah, the trial went well.” As he expected, there was a sudden silence on the other line when Tooru realized who he was talking to.
“Hajime. Well, I’m glad for you that it did. Otherwise, my interrogation would’ve been for naught, hm?”
“Tooru, you know that it’s protocol, not an issue of trust.” His voice was tired since he’d spent all day in a boring trial, which he’d been waiting to be completed for almost two weeks now. Shigeru had been unable to reduce his own sentence.
“Least you could’ve done was tell me in person, instead of paging it to Keiji.”
“Can we talk when I’m home?”
“Fine, I’ll have dinner ready.” The call disconnected after that, and Hajime let his head fall back against the headrest. Koushi gave him a sympathetic look, one that Hajime waves off. “Just drop me off at my apartment, I’ll handle it.”
When Koushi leaves him at the entrance of his apartment building, Hajime was wallowing in a sense of dread stronger than the time he’d asked Tooru out. He climbed the stairs to the second floor quickly, and he unlocked the door hesitantly, unsure of what to expect. The tv was on, playing some news channel, and he could see Tooru sitting on the couch. His shoes against the wall and his coat on the rack, he approached Tooru warily, preparing for some sort of outburst as the worst case scenario. Tooru didn’t give any indication he had heard Hajime come in until he’d sat down. Tooru turned the tv off and didn’t speak, which Hajime took to mean that he needed to explain himself.
“I know you don’t like it when I don’t communicate these kinds of things to you,” he starts, “and I could’ve done it better, but you can’t deny that I couldn’t tell you beforehand. And I especially couldn’t let the fact that we’re in a relationship be used against us in the investigation.”
“I know you couldn’t tell me beforehand, and I understand you didn’t want to let our relationship come under fire, but was it too much to be told this in person? I was worried I had committed a larger infraction, and you know how I overthink things.” Hajime almost cried when Tooru actually conversed with him in a normal tone, although it still had an accusing edge.
“Yeah, I know. God, we’ve said those words so much in this conversation. But it’s true,” he says, staring straight at Tooru. “I’m sorry for that.” Tooru releases the pillow he’d been holding and held his arms out for Hajime to fall into. He took the invitation gladly.
“I’m sorry I overreacted so much. This couch is more uncomfortable than a wooden chair, and I made you sleep here for two weeks. I’m sorry, babe.” Tooru ran his hands through Hajime’s hair, ignoring the sticky feeling of the gel that clung to his fingers. “How was the trial? I didn’t bother staying after I presented my evidence.”
“It was exhausting,” comes the muffled reply from Hajime, who had shoved his face into Tooru’s sweater. “The jury took forever to come to a conclusion, you don’t even want to know.” He smiled when Tooru laughed, feeling the first sharp exhale that preceded his laugh. “You should be glad you didn’t come.”
“I am. Dinner’s in the kitchen, do you want to go get it?”
“Mm, no, I’m too comfortable.” Without looking, he knew Tooru was rolling his eyes. “Don’t even try to say anything, you love me.” He doesn’t see the soft smile that spread across Tooru’s face.
“You’re right. I do love you."