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The MO was unclear. The possible suspects, even less so. The only similarities marking the Somna Epidemic that spanned from 2007 to 2011 were the results; children, slipping into comas they never awoke from, found near a game of some sort. The investigation went nowhere, the unsub moving in a seemingly random pattern all across the country. Further investigation uncovered similar incidents in England from 2005 to early 2007, but still no answers.
Then, as suddenly as they started, they stopped. Like the unsub had just......given up. Interestingly, an unconnected string of petty theft had also stopped around the same time. It’s still unsure if the two are connected in some way, but the case remains unsolved.
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Across the world in Domino City, Japan, strange things were occurring. People were being driven insane, violent crime was on the rise, and all the victims babbled something about a boy with a golden eye. Obviously, that wasn’t much to go off of. However, there was one lead.
All the victims were connected in some way to Domino High School.
Investigations were slow going, due to the fact that the victims were hardly coherent anymore, but they did manage to get enough of a description that they could start looking.
Though how much “thundering boots” and “righteous fury” were going to help, there was no telling.
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When asked about strange occurrences at Domino High, the students tended to agree; Himura Kaito was the one to talk to. Apparently, he’d almost been a victim of said weird occurrences, but people tended to brush him off.
When questioned, Himura insisted that a first year student, Mutou Yuugi, was to blame for the victims from the school. Himura also said he wouldn’t be surprised if every strange, unsolved murder in the city could also be attributed to Mutou. It was almost unsettling how insistent he was, though it started to make sense once he mentioned why he believed so strongly in Mutou’s guilt.
According to Himura, the reason he was so certain is that Mutou had attacked him too; he was just the first who escaped sane enough to tell the tale.
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Mutou Yuugi. Age 16. First year at Domino High School. No history of arrest, though he has been the victim in multiple instances of bullying.
Prime suspect.
According to classmates, Mutou has been a fairly average, if game-obsessed, student, all through middle school. Quiet, withdrawn, and a social pariah. Until about the second week of highschool, he only had one friend, Mazaki Anzu. When questioned about Mutou’s character, Mazaki looked strangely guilty for a second before affirming the previous assessment. She mentioned that she had been friends with Mutou since elementary school, but they’d drifted apart some in recent years. She mentioned that Mutou had been acting strangely, however. Forgetting conversations, acting more aggressive, and swinging wildly between meek politeness, and a confidence almost bordering on arrogance. Mazaki did, however, provide one extremely useful lead.
All the incidents started occurring after Mutou had completed a possibly-cursed puzzle, gifted to him by his grandfather.
Questioning the elder Mutou was a bit more complicated than expected. Though some bias had been expected, it actually seemed as though Mutou-san was actually afraid of his grandson. Not entirely unusual for families of delinquents, though it did make things harder, as the man refused to speak. Mutou’s mother mentioned that Mutou had been having lapses in his memory, but that he was already seeing a doctor about it. Unfortunately for the investigation however, Dr. Akiyama, Mutou’s psychiatrist, wasn’t very forthcoming with the details.
Honestly, it seemed like this case just wasn’t going to go anywhere. For now, it would be set aside. Mutou wouldn’t be taken into custody, but he would be put on a watchlist. Any suspicious behavior, and the investigation would be reopened.