Crime Games | ✓

10. Secrets Unravel

↑ Chiaki Asahina above ↑

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'Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty'
— Mother Teresa

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"It would be best to tell everyone else all at once, but there are some within our group that we can't trust."

"Can't trust? What do you..."

"I'll explain from the beginning so just listen. Everything that I say to you from here on out is between us only."

No.

"I'm telling you this because I believe I can trust you, Matsumoto."

No, I don't want to hear it.

"Saya Asahina and Iori Yutaka... They're the ones responsible for the kidnappings."

Tadashi's face grew pale and his heart stopped. "Huh... What are you saying, Kobayashi?" He produced a shaky laugh. "Of course that's not the case! You're joking, right?"

Ayame only looked away in response, her silence only paining Tadashi further.

What does she mean Saya and Iori are responsible? That's not possible! Tadashi's mind racked for some answers as he clenched his fists to the point where they turned deathly white. An intuition! Yeah, an intuition! She must be telling me what me what she thinks happened!

Ayame closed her eyes. "I know this information will be hard to sink in but, I'm not lying."

Tadashi instantly looked up at the girl.

"It's not an intuition or what I think may have happened," she went on, shooting Tadashi a serious glance. "It's the truth. That's why I want to tell you."

"But," Tadashi began to reason, "Iori was kidnapped! How would that be?"

She shook her head. "He made himself appear to be kidnapped so his suspicions of the crime would be disregarded."

Tadashi's eyes widened. "What..."

"Even I don't know the real reason behind why he would do such a thing but I could reason that—"

"Wait, Kobayashi!" Tadashi cut her off, voice filled with incredulity. "This doesn't make any sense! Why would they want to kidnap our friends? And Asahina, when they went missing, she..." Tadashi bit down on his lip hard. "She was sad! She cried for her friends! Then how could she—"

"She could've just been playing the act."

"H-huh?" Tadashi asked, taken aback.

Ayame crossed her arms over her chest. "You thinking that way is all due to her manipulation. She fooled us all, Matsumoto. Iori Yutaka, too."

Tadashi dropped his hands. Acting? Saya was acting that day?

~FLASHBACK~

"I agree with Izumi." Saya's voice trembled as she spoke. "We should at least do something! This... It doesn't add up! It's suspicious!"

Her timid behaviour was replaced with a sudden burst of energy as she held out her hands.

"Sure, Moriko was kidnapped and everyone misses her. But now that Yutaka and Oogawa were kidnapped as well, this proves it!"

Saya shook as she bit her lip, debating on whether to say it or not.