3 weeks later...
Nagatoro: Is this how you do it, senpai?
She was carelessly moving around her spoon, making a disgusting mesh in the process.
Me: No, you have to push more firmly. See like this.
I grabbed her little hands as I made her hold the spoon with a bit more force, helping with some of the mashing.
Me: Now keep going like that while I take out the chicken from the stove.
I grabbed a mitten and opened the stove, taking out the chicken which is wrapped in tinfoil.
Nagatoro: It smells great, senpai.
Me: Yeah I guess so. It seems you're improving.
Nagatoro: R-Really.
Me: Yes really. You didn't burn the chicken this time.
I opened the tinfoil to reveal a perfectly cooked chicken.
Nagatoro: Now what?
Me: Now we eat the food you prepared. Although let's not eat too much considering it's midnight.
Nagatoro: Well, sorry for doing it right now! It's the only time where I'm alone today. For some reason, they started to stay lesser hours and take later shifts. It's so weird.
Me: Maybe they're aware of me.
Nagatoro waived her hands.
Nagatoro: No way, senpai. I made sure they didn't see anything.
I sighed. It could still be a possibility. Or it could be they just miss her.
Me: Well, anyway, I'll cut a piece of it and you can save the rest for your family.
Nagatoro then tugged on my shirt.
Me: Yes?
Nagatoro: Y-You should eat lunch with me tomorrow.
Me: Really? I was planning on reading this new book in the library tomorr-
Nagatoro hit me on the side of my shoulder. Although her attacks against me were constant, they never hurt which is why I chose a simpler approach against them: do nothing.
Nagatoro: I said let's eat on the rooftop, senpai.
Me: Fine.
Nagatoro: Great! Oh, and don't bring lunch because I'll be making us bento boxes.
Me: Ok. Free food is always welcomed. Unless it's shit of course.
Nagatoro smiled at me.
Nagatoro: Just don't get to full of yourself senpai. I'm only doing it since you've been helping me for a while.
Me: Sure, sure.
We quietly ate portions of chicken as Nagatoro seemed contempt with it.
Nagatoro: It's pretty good!
Me: It is.
Nagatoro frowned.
Nagatoro: Oh come on, senpai. You can't even smile when you're eating the best food of your life?
Me: I choose when to smile and when not to. I just do-
The doorbell rang as Nagatoro got up from her seat and signaled for me to go through the backdoor of her kitchen where I would simply hop the fence.
As she went towards the door, I stopped sneaking towards the back when I saw her confused expression.
Nagatoro: It looks like an old man with a suit. Weird. Haven't seen him before.
An old man in a black suit. Curious, I walked up to Nagatoro as I looked through the peephole revealing what I hardly didn't expect: Tsukishiro in the flesh, waiting at the door. He must have tracked down my most recent activity here and found where Nagatoro lives. What an annoyance. I guess it's time to settle this if he's already here.
Me: Nagatoro, it's fine. He's a family relative. I think he came to pick me up unannounced.
Nagatoro: Oh, r-really?
Me: Yes. Now clean the kitchen and goodnight. I'll be leaving now.
I opened the door as I closed it behind me, leaving Nagatoro a bit anxious from the entire scene.
Walking away from the premises alongside Tsukishiro and nearing his car, I made my move.
Punching Tsuckishiro in the face, he landed head first on his Volkswagen as the car window cracked. Falling onto the ground, he recovered and put his right hand out. His left was clinching his broken nose. I hit him in the stomach with my right leg as He slammed into his door, denting it.
Tsuckishiro:*cough* Relax, Kiyotaka. *cough* Relax.
Me: The next time you try to track me down or involve another soul, I won't stop with destroying your car. If you were going to confront me, I made it abundantly clear the final time we interacted where you could do that. But it seems you always like to do things contradictory to what you are told, huh. So what do you want, old man. You failed to expel me and now you want to finish what you started there?
Tsuckishiro: It's my fault. I get it. I startled you and went to your girlfriend's house by mistake.
Me: She's not my girlfriend. And you should be disgusted. Since when was it ok to stalk an underage girl and her house? You could spend the rest of your pathetic life in jail for that.
Tsukishiro: Well, whatever. That's not why I'm here. Anyway, before you rudely hit me in the face, I was going to tell you information regarding your father.
Me: And what is it?
Tsukishiro: He was found dead a couple of hours ago. Killed in his sleep by cyanide.
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Me: I see. And I'm guessing you're here because you believe I had something to do with it?
Tsukishiro: It's actually the reverse. I'd like you to help me find who did it.
Me: Why should I? I might have been his son, but I don't care for him as much as risking my peaceful life here in order to pursue a killer who could have simply been a political enemy of his who got him when he was at his weakest.
Tsukishiro: It doesn't matter if you agree or not. I am forcing you to go.
Me: Want to try saying that again?
Before I was able to hit him, he laughed.
Tsukishiro: You know. I can always bring you in now. I was your father's number two which means I now have executive decision over your wellbeing. His will was to distribute his wealth towards the project he held so dear which means you won't get anything from him. Not a single penny.
Me: And your point?
Tsukishiro: Even if your father is dead, don't think your stint at the whiteroom will ever be finished. The whiteroom started with your father, but it will go on even after his death. I can always bring you back with me into that hell you call the whiteroom. Unless...
Me: I help you.
Tsukishiro smiles.
Tsukishiro: Exactly. Although there will be detectives in every corner, searching endlessly for evidence, they won't be able to find anything. And even if they did, corrupt politicians and enemies of your father will simply buy them off. In a normal court of law, we have no chance of catching and punishing the criminals responsible for this.
Me: So you want us to work behind the scenes as vigilantes?
Tsukishiro: Yes. Exactly. If we work together, along with the resources given to us per the whiteroom, we can track down your father's killer and avenge him. Of course, you hardly care about that so your real motive will be the freedom we will allow you at the completion of this task.
Me: Fine. It's not like I have much of a choice.
Tsukishiro: Excellent. Oh, and if you're thinking about the missed time, don't. I already spoke with the school and with a little encouragement using the many resources in our disposal, you are exonerated from classes for the next two weeks.
Two weeks? Well, I guess it makes sense.
Me: And what happens if we don't find the killer in that time limit?
Tsukishiro laughs.
Tsukishiro: Then you will go back to the whiteroom with me regardless. And you'll forget about the life you were thinking of having with that girl, what was her name again?
Me: Nagatoro.
Tsukishiro: Oh and that reminds me, don't you want to go back and say some words regarding your upcoming disappearance? You most likely won't be seeing her forever, if you fail?
Me: We aren't like that. She's only a friend. And she'll be fine.
I took out my phone and texted her something before I got into Tsukishiro now dented car.
Me: Nagatoro, I'm sorry but I will not be at school for the next two weeks so I'll have to cancel our plans. Goodbye.
I sent the text and turned off my phone, as the badly damaged Tsukishiro opened the door to the shotgun as I went inside. He entered and we drove away, as I knew we were going straight to where it all started for me, the whiteroom.
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*Next Morning*
Nagatoro POV
Ah, so much light. I woke up in my bed as I looked at my phone, seeing a notification from Senpai.
Me: Senpai? Wait he sent this when he left my house yesterday? What did he want to say?
Senpai's text: Nagatoro, I'm sorry but I will not be at school for the next two weeks so I'll have to cancel our plans. Goodbye.
What?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where was he going?
What did he mean by two weeks?
Did it have to do with that old man?!
Where are you going, Senpai?!!!!
Ayanokouji POV
Tsukishiro: Glad you woke up Kiyotaka. While you were sleeping in the waiting room, I had our scientists bring in your father's body and place it in the center of our lab.
I rubbed my eyes as I got up and put on the lab coat Tsukishiro handed me.
Me: And how were you able to persuade the morgue to hand over my father's body to you?
Tsukishiro: It wasn't easy. It took quite the bribing. And we made sure not to have it make the news. That took thousands as well. But it was all important. We would like to find the murderer and potentially the entire group responsible for this, build a case around them, and seek justice as well as compensation.
Me: So what did the autopsy concur?
Tsukishiro: Tell the masterpiece the details, Dr. Saikawa.
Dr. Saikawa: Uh, yes sir.
She then turned to me and bowed.
Dr. Saikawa: Let me just say, on behalf of the entire staff here, that we are with you in the mourning of our great leader. We will find his killer, sir.
Me: You can keep your sympathies. All I need are the results.
Dr. Saikawa: Oh, uh, yes sir.
She then showed us my father's body as she took off the cloak covering him.
His eyes were lifeless, still retaining his famous scowl he always gave to everyone.
Me: It seems he still retains some of his physical attributes despite being a corpse.
Dr. Saikawa: Ok. So if you would please look at this section of his heart, via a cellular scan using one of our MRI's this is what we discovered.
I was handed a picture showing his heart and its lack of oxygen as well as his brain and other organs.
Me: So the lack of oxygen in the cells led you to believe the poison used was cyanide. Was there any form of cyanide gas in the room when he was found?
Dr. Saikawa: You really are the real deal! That's exactly what we found. Since Cyanide in a gas form is denser than air, it goes up to the surface after released in a confined space.
Me: So the killer used cyanide gas when there wasn't anybody inside the room, made sure the windows and doors were locked, and my father died a terrible death as his heart and brain stopped working due to a lack of oxygen.
Dr. Saikawa nodded.
Dr Saikawa: But there was something else we found on him when we did tests with his blood.
Me: What was it?
She then showed me a graph detailing the density of his heart cells over a period of 6 months.
I looked at it and spotted the change almost instantly.
Me: It looks like the amounts of oxygen his cells were working with decreased somewhat steadily over the course of a few months. Not so much as to kill him right away, but enough to induce something similar to a medical coma.
As I continued to sift through the notes, I made sure to note how specific these graphs were to the letter. They would be useful in the future but not now.
Me: And the scratches on his neck and the chipped nails on his fingers indicate that he experienced suffocation. He died a painful death, trying to grasp what little air he had left.
Tsukishiro: All the more reason, to find the perpetrators.
Me: Yes.
Me: Dr. Saikawa.
Dr. Saikawa: Yes?
Me: Apart from this, is there any further documentation regarding any past symptoms of my father. For example, aside from the induced coma, did he experience any dizziness, convulsions or experienced a slow heart rate?
Dr. Saikawa: To my knowledge, he didn't have these symptoms. More so, we don't have any documented proof regarding this.
Me: Ok. Now that we know his cause of death, the only reasonable thing to do now is to pull up the hospital camera footage on the night of his death. We might be able to find a list of suspects that we can trace this crime back to. Maybe some with a certain personal or business tie-in with my father. Now let's go to the crime scene. I'd like to see how concentrated the gas would have needed to be in order to kill my father.
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Nagatoro POV
Despite his text, I thought he would just say it was a joke and still be here. I waited on the rooftop with the bento boxes I made yesterday. And senpai never came. So I guess it was true he wasn't going to be back. But why? Why now? Why two weeks? It just didn't make any sense.
I crawled up as I ate my lunch by myself.
Me: I hope you're doing ok, senpai.
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Ayanokouji POV
Me: So this is my father's grave.
I looked around and saw that there was still some gas that had not dissipated, despite the windows being opened. So we were asked to wear gas masks for our own protection. There, a couple of authorities tried to look at the crime scene, only to be met with more money then they had ever seen in their lives.
I walked around towards my father's hospital bed as I looked at the untucked sheets and noticed a syringe that had been left underneath the pillow. It was half used, as I put it inside a paper bag using gloves and placing it inside my backpack.
Tsukishiro walked by me.
Tsukishiro: So what did you find?
Me: A syringe. It was used in the killing. The contents of it are unknown, at least for now. We should bring it back to the lab for testing.
As I talked to Tsukishiro, I went over to the nutrient filler which had tubes that would have been connected to my father for him to intake the appropriate nutrients when he was in his coma.
There, I saw a small puncture on the side of the bag. Looking at it more carefully, it was already sealed up with surgical tape, and recently at that. Taking out the tape, I saw the hole was small enough to be a syringe injector hole. This must be where the syringe was used.
Me: In total, this was a careless job in execution. However, the culprit's cleanup was simply impeccable. Not a single fingerprint, no blood, no lacerations or interactions with the victim, my father. Whoever did this was skilled, although not in the use of cyanide. If they were skilled, they should have known that the amount of gas used in here was overkill. At most, a third of it was necessary.
Tsukishiro: So the police's and our own theories are incorrect.
Me: Correct. The killer in question is not a doctor or at least isn't a very good one. Whoever killed my father must have been a visitor in a one-on-one session with him. Alright, let's go back and develop a list of the essential personnel that were allowed entry here excluding the doctors and nurses. If no significant names turn up, look into the staff finding any inadequate doctors or nurses.
Tsukishiro: And if that doesn't work?
Me: Then we look into my father's camera footage of his office, where he conducted his business. Either way, the killer is in one of these different pieces of footage.
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