The Ones We Left Behind

A cop was searching Naoto, but he really didn’t have any weapon with him. He probably discarded the knife he had.

The police arrived in silence, but now that Naoto was under arrest, the school got really noisy. The cars arriving now had their lights and sounds on, a lot of cops already had started to search the school grounds and some of them were near Hina’s body.

When a police was handcuffing Naoto, Arata arrived and came in my direction.

“Is everything fine with you? Did you get hurt anywhere?”, he said.

“I’m fine, really.”

“So it finally ended...”, Arata said after a sigh.

Some cops were leaving with Naoto while more arrived to search the scene.

“Still, I have some questions...”, I said.

“Maybe I can answer them, but first...”, Arata bowed to me.

“Huh? Why are you doing this? Please, raise you head!”

“I’m really sorry, Souma! I kept asking for you to trust in me, but I hid some facts from you and even told some lies! Not only that, but I failed and people died! I’m a disgrace as a detective, that’s why I’ll leave my job as soon as we close this case.”, Arata said while he was still bowing to me.

“Arata, you’re a detective, I understand that you can’t just share every piece of information with me! So please, raise your head.”

“But I used you!”, he was still bowing.

“Please, raise your head and let’s talk. I decided to trust you, that’s why you are here now.”

That’s right. When I escaped the darkness that devoured my heart, I sent a message to Naoto saying that I knew he was the killer and a message to Arata asking for help. When I suspected Hayato and went to confront him, I tried to do it alone, just leaving a message behind. But today I didn’t try to do everything alone and that paid off.

“I understand.”, he raised his head.

“So… let’s start. Can you confirm for me the victims? With all the nightmares I had, I started to mix dreams with reality.”

“I remember you telling me about those nightmares, so it’s understandable. Let me begin...”

Arata took a small notebook from his pocket.

“Let me see… Mei Tamura, died of a fatal damage to her internal organs caused by a stabbing.”

I remembered that moment, when I arrived in rooftop and saw Mei dead.

“Sakura Nakajima, died after being hit on the head by a blunt object. Unlike Mei’s case, we never found the weapon used. We’ll probably finally find it after we question Naoto.”

That moment when I looked inside the dumpster and saw Sakura inside is still burned in my mind.

“Sora Yamada, died in the same way as Sakura, but his body had signs of torture.”

Differently from Mei and Sakura, Sora had his hands and legs tied up. Did Naoto tried to extract information from him?

“Hayato Kirisaki, died in the same way as Mei. The weapon used, a knife, was found in the area.”

The sound of Hayato’s phone echoed in my mind. A deep scar in my soul that will never heal.

“Tomoya Daiichi, died of blood loss after several stabbings. After analyzes, we can say for sure that he was killed in the same day as Hayato. His body was stuck at the bottom of the lake.”

The only body I didn’t find.

“And now I can sadly add Hina Takagi. I only gave a fast look, but it’s safe to say she died because of a cut in her throat.”

Hina… I didn’t even have time to mourn for her death.

“That’s all the deaths?”

“Yes. Six in total.”

After hearing Arata’s confirmation, I couldn't help but let out a laugh.

“Why the laugh?”, Arata asked.

“Sorry, it’s because I just realized how crazy I was.”

“Care to explain?”

“Well, I remembering seeing some other bodies, like a decapitated one here at school the day before you went to visit me to talk about Tomoya for example.”

“I can assure you that no one found a body like that. And no one reported a missing person for us. So it was just one of your nightmares.”

“Nightmares...”

I wasn’t just seeing Mei, my mind created a bunch of random crazy events. I can only imagine how strange would be to someone seeing me during one of those absurd nights. I speaking with a girl that wasn’t there, I following a trail of blood that didn’t existed… My broken mind kept creating strange situations.

There’s just one thing I want to know, what was real between those moments of delirium? Hayato did saw someone that night when we came to check on Akira and it was probably Naoto playing with us. Naoto went to the first building, so he used a window to go to its back and then he appeared in front of Hayato. Because of the darkness, Hayato couldn’t see it was Naoto who returned to the building using the same window.

With that in mind, the day I found the decapitated body, the same thing happened: Someone in the shadows used a window to go inside the first building. Was that Naoto? And after that happened I started to hallucinate?

“Now, another question.”, I said. “At various moments, I saw a man watching my house, was him a cop?”

“Yes. Since the very begin we were watching you. I delegated that task to Issei who was adamant in wanting to arrest you.”

“Issei?”, I repeated the unfamiliar name.

“Oh, I never told his name to you.”

Arata approached the railing so he could have a look at the schoolyard.

“There.”, he said while pointing to someone.

I immediately recognized the man.

“The other detective...”

“Issei Suzuki. While we clash sometimes over our opinions, we’re friends.”

“I didn’t had the best experience with him. But the last time he spoke with me he wasn’t aggressive.”

“Since the begin he believed you were the culprit. Even when I showed him things that pointed to the contrary. To him, you were a liar who believed in his own lies.”

I can’t say he was mistaken... With me believing in events that never happened.

“Now, speaking of believing in me… Why did you believe so much in me? It was because of what Sakura said?”, I asked.

“Do you have any other question besides this one?”

“Huh? Let me think… Ah! The police asked the school to not find a new night guard?”

“Well, it seems your questions now all connect to the same thing. So let me explain everything and once again ask for your forgiveness.”

He already told about the police watching me, what more did he hide from me?

“I used you as a bait to attract the killer.”, he said.

“What?”

“After the killer… After Naoto killed Sakura, it was clear his objective was to frame you. And to do that, he needed you to find the bodies. That’s why I let you walk around without the police interfering, not saying that we were watching some key spots, like the school.”

“So did you know about my trips to school at night?”

“Yes, I know about all of them.”

“I knew it was strange for you to not know about them...”

“But watching you and the other suspects all the time wasn’t working. Naoto was aware of us and he didn’t try to make any other risk move like he did with Sakura. So we purposefully reduced our watch at some moments trying to lure him out. I’ve put you in danger and some of your friends died because of this. Like Issei said, this was a disgrace for the police.”

Without a lead, the police just tried to make the murdered reveal himself…

“Ah, and when the night guard left his job, we asked the school to not find a new one. I needed it empty so it would be easy for you keep visiting it.”

“So I was really being used...”

“I’m really sorry!”, he bowed again but didn’t stayed in that position for long. “But I really believed in you!”

“And about that… Why?”

“It’s because I had a son.”

“Had?”

“Yes. Many years ago, before I was a detective, I worked for a certain company. I had a wife and a six years old son.”, Arata said with a sad smile in his face. “My son had a very weak body, so he would get sick very often. A certain day of that December, the company held a party for its workers and their families and I was there with my wife and son. While the adults were having fun talking, the kids were walking around the place while playing with one another. The place had a pool and it was off limits for the party, but the kids sneaked in and started to play around it.”

Arata stayed silent for a moment before continuing with the story. “That’s when one of the kids fell in the pool. The adults acted fast and saved the kid before anything bad happened. And when we went to scold the kids, they said that my son had pushed the kid who fell in the pool. My son denied the accusations, but I didn’t listen to him and scolded him, then I made him apologize to the kid’s family with me.”

Arata stopped again, now his face was full of sadness. “At home, my son cried, swearing he did nothing wrong, but I once again ignored his pleas and punished him. One week later, his health got really bad and he died.”

“Arata...”

“During his funeral, I friend from work came to me to ask for my forgiveness. He said his son had admitted he lied about my son pushing the kid into the pool. The kids were covering up for another one. I didn’t believe in my son and he left me before I could correct my mistake.”, Arata looked to the dark sky. “I left the company soon after and ended up in the police. And I never tried to have another kid because I thought I was unfit to be a father.”

“That’s not true! You were like a father for me this last summer break! I had a good time with you!”

“You saying this makes this old man really happy. Still, I’m sorry for what all that happened, you suffered a lot.”

Arata wanted to believe in me because of his late son. But Sakura saying that I would never kill Mei. And speaking of Sakura…

“I was forgetting about something. Did you discovered why Sakura defended me?”, I asked.

“That’s the last think I need to ask you forgiveness for.”

“Huh?”

“Wait here for a moment.”

Arata went to a cop who was near the door and spoke with him. Then, he returned to talk with me. “I knew from the very beginning why and she had told us about hiding something together with Mei too.”

“Why did you hide that from me?”

“I wanted to give you a reason to keep leaving your house. I imagined you would keep coming to school trying to find whatever they hid. I gave you goal, a hope to keep going forward.”

“So it was part of the plan to use me as bait.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Yet, I never found anything.”, I sighed. “And I was certain I would find it… Did you find the object?”

“Before I answer that, where did you think it was?”

“It took some time, but I discovered that Mei was a member of the gardening club. And after getting this information, I imagined she would bury whatever it was. It was the safest way to hide something in the school, so no one would find it by accident.”

“Oh, congratulations, you are right.”

“Huh? But I didn’t find it...”

That moment, the cop who spoke with Arata returned and he had a small wooden box in his hands. After he gave the box to Arata, he left.

“That box...”, I said.

“Yes, it is what your thinking. What Mei wanted to hide is inside this box.”

“When did you get it?”

“After Sakura died, I asked someone to dug it out. Again, I didn’t tell you this to keep using you.”

“At least… I was right about something. The object existed and was buried in the school.”

“But I need to remember you about something.”

“Huh?”

“Sakura didn’t detailed you about this box because it has nothing to do with the murder case.”

“What!? Nothing to do?”

“Yes. She explained us in detail about it and I only asked to dug it out so we could be sure.”

“So it was useless in the end...”

“When we talked inside the car that day, if you hadn’t mentioned the box, I would ask you if you knew about a hidden object in the school to try to make you act. Once again, I’m sorry.”

“Please, stop saying that. It’s enough, really.”

I stared at the box, try to imagine what was inside it.

If I ask will he answer me?

Before I could say anything, Arata started to speak. “Well, it’s time to give this to its owner.”

“Huh? But Sakura and Mei are dead.”

Arata ignored my commentary and opened the box. Then, he got an envelope that was inside it.

“Souma, this is yours.”, Arata said offering the envelope to me.

“Mine?”, I said surprised.

“This is the final piece of the puzzle. The reason why Sakura believed that you would never kill Mei.”

I didn’t say anything and just got the envelope from his hand. After having a look, it was a plain and very normal envelope.

“Can I open it?”, I asked.

“As I said, this is yours, so go ahead.”

I opened the envelope, revealing a folded paper inside it. I took the paper and looked at Arata who nodded to me. It wasn’t a simple blank paper, it had pink borders with drawings, something very girly.

After unfolding the paper, I started to read its contents.

“Huh?”, I had just started to read and a tear ran down my left cheek. And then, another one on the right cheek.

As I continued to read, I start to sob. More and more tears were coming. And in the end, I was crying like a small a kid. I don’t remember the last time I cried like this. It was just too sad, the pain in my heart was unbearable.

I continued to cry. To make things worse, the memories of this summer started to appear in mind.

I was shedding tears for my best friend, the stupid guy who loved his sister more than anything else in this world. Someone who always made me laugh. Someone irreplaceable.

Farewell, Hayato.

I was shedding tears for Hina. We only became friends some months ago, but she was already a great friend. She tried to support me, she tried to protect me and I never thanked her.

Farewell, Hina.

I was shedding tears for Naoto. The friend who fell in darkness and couldn’t escape from it. I wasn’t good enough for him to seek my help. No, he was just like me, trying to do everything alone and losing to despair. Now, he will never see the outside world again.

Farewell, Naoto.

I was shedding tears for the others who lost their lives in this tragedy.

Farewell.

I was shedding tears for Mei, who left this message for me.

Farewell, Mei.

I was shedding tears because my heart was full of regret. The letter made me realize how I should have tried more and not just stand in place.

Maybe if I had taken the initiative, this entire nightmare could have been averted.

I continued to cry and seeing that, Arata hugged me. I responded by hugging him too.

“It’s okay to cry. Don’t keep holding the pain in your heart.”, Arata said. “Now that everything ended, you should let your sadness get out from you.”

I didn’t answer him. I just continued to cry.

Why didn’t do that? This question kept appearing in my mind. But it’s very easy to look to the past and see all the mistakes we made. Now I need to learn with those mistakes and change myself.

For now, I’ll cry. So I can face tomorrow with all my strength.

While I was still hugging Arata, the other detective, Issei arrived in the rooftop. “Arata, are you...”, he stopped when he saw the scene and just returned downstairs. “I can’t interrupt them.”

The same night sky of summer who saw the beginning of the tragedy, was watching its conclusion. A tragedy that started and ended with Mei.

“Dear, Souma,

I’m sorry for telling you this with a letter. I really wanted to talk with you in person. But the truth is: I’m not the kind of girl you probably imagine me to be. While I have people around me all the time, I’m initially very timid towards people and I need some time to get comfortable with them.

I am ashamed to admit this, but if it wasn’t for my looks and my good grades at school, I would probably be a lonely girl. But because of them, people are always coming to me so I never had a problem making friends.

Now you should be asking why I’m telling you all this… How should I say this? How should I start? I can’t find the right words…

Well, we know each other since the beginning of middle school, right? At first we were just classmates who didn’t really interacted, but at some point I noticed that normally silent boy who changed himself when he was near his friends and I started to be interested in you. I wonder why? Maybe because I was a bit like a you?

Days passed and I continued observing you, but because of my shyness, I never tried to speak with you. Until that day… Do you remember it? That day you helped me, I finally found the courage to speak and our small conversation just increased my interest in you.

After that happened, every day I would greet you, but I was still too shy to approach you. But you always greeted me back with a smile and that would make me happy. And during the first year of high school, Sakura finally asked me why I was still holding back myself. I didn’t understand at first and she had to explain to me. I got really embarrassed after the explanation, but what she said was true, I finally noticed my feelings.

Still… I couldn’t move forward.

I’m a weak, stupid girl, don’t you agree?

But even if we can’t progress, time won’t stop and when I realized we would soon be in the last year of high school, a pain started to consume my heart. As my best friend, Sakura couldn’t keep seeing me like this and offered her help. But I continued being stubborn and refused, but she didn’t stop and I finally agreeded in writing my feelings in this letter…

I’m sure you already understood what I wanted to say to you… The interest I had in you changed with time, the more I watched, the more I wanted to know you better, to be with you.

Souma… This is love, right? Would you accept these feelings of mine?

Sincerely, your friend Mei.”