Chapter 47

Miiko appears on the smartphone screen. Normally a lot of people seem to watch the stream. But today was different. After I asked in the comments, Miiko went out of her way to set up a private stream just for me.

With no one else watching, I can bare my heart.

"Thank you. Miiko."

"It's not the real me, but... if something's bothering you, I'll listen. What's wrong? You said you had to talk, so something's troubling you, right?"

"U-um..."

"What is it?"

I'd wanted to ask how she first met Detective Chikage, too. But thinking it would waste time, I told her what I really wanted to consult about.

"I acted as a detective... and the culprit in the murder case was exposed."

"That's great. Good job!"

I denied her, eyes wide open.

"Not great at all! I fought for your revenge! I tried to prove detectives are useless and solve the case's riddles first, and the result—!"

"The result...?"

Miiko blinked, and I told her I was seriously troubled.

"The result was that two people died! If I'd just gone to the police normally, or asked Detective Chikage, maybe no one would have died! All I did was solve the case's riddles on my own, felt satisfied with that, and hurt everyone involved. And I killed them! It's my fault!"

"...Hyoga?"

"That's why I... have to disappear...! Just like I first said, I'll erase this rotten detective. I'll kill him."

"Hyoga...? What are you saying?"

Near that plaza was a tall bridge over the river. A place with almost no people or cars. No one would notice anything.

I walked there, leaned against the railing, and told Miiko.

"In the end, I became a detective too. So I'll take revenge on myself. This is how it ends. If it ends, maybe the world will be a little more peaceful without detectives!?"

Miiko screamed at my words.

"What are you saying!? Stop right now! Get away from there! Give up those thoughts! Right now! Right now!"

"Too late. If I lose my life here, maybe there'll be fewer detectives. I left a suicide note, just in case."

"A suicide note—what!?"

"It accuses Azuma of everything. What he's done and how the officers rely on him. I despaired at that, saw something shocking right in front of me, got disgusted, and ended it. That's fine, right?"

I recited the suicide note word for word. She didn't nod once, but that was fine. She'd never accept someone's death.

"Stop it!"

"I'm coming to you right now... Maybe the world will change just a little?"

I'm not scared. Falling from a high place is nothing compared to the terror of falling from hope to despair.

Goodbye.

I let go of the smartphone, kicked off the ground with my foot, and dove head-first toward the riverbed. Eyes closed, I thought—

Ah, it's over. This really is the end.

"You idiot! You think the world will change just because you died!?"

Someone suddenly grabbed my foot. A force defying gravity lifted me and slammed me onto my back on the bridge.

There was pain, but I had no idea what had happened, no time to feel it.

Hearing someone's ragged breathing, I opened my eyes.

"President... why, in a place like this... why, why do you decide the value of my life!?"

The President reached out, grabbed my shirt, and yelled in a terribly harsh voice.

"I saw it! Chikage came to me worried about how you were acting. I followed you, lost you on the way... and when I searched, you were here! More importantly, what the hell were you trying to do!?"

"...More importantly, the value of life..."

"Huh!? You don't even know that!? You solve cases but understand nothing about yourself!? Of course! The world won't change just because one person commits suicide! It won't!"

He was desperate. Sweating, he spoke frantically. Miiko on the President's smartphone at his feet was also shouting for life.

"If you want to change something, live. You have to live! If you killed people dear to you as a detective, then live and atone for that crime! So next time you can help someone in trouble! So you can share the pain with those who bear the same hurt!"

"This girl on the smartphone... Miiko, right? She's right. I don't know the value of your life, but I can say this. People can corner the bastards if they stay alive. Go wild in front of the detective you hate. That'll bother him way more than if you kill yourself."

Their words melted the hard thing in my heart.

What had I been doing?

What had I thought of my life? I'd believed that throwing it away would solve everything—such a convenient fantasy. I'd known better.

"That's right... I... President... President... I'm really sorry... I couldn't protect Miiko. I tried to run from that responsibility... and I even tried to throw away my life..."

The President wrapped my trembling body in warm arms.

"...If you understand, that's enough. Because you're the guy I trust most in this world."

Someone who trusts me.

When the President was in trouble, he relied on me. In Werewolf, he believed I was an innocent villager.

That's right. The President had always been kind.

He'd given me unconditional love. Realizing I was about to repay that in the worst way made me truly sorry.

Overwhelmed, I cried on the bridge. Just cried and cried. The President and Miiko stayed with me until I felt better.

That was why, when Kitsunesaki attacked the President, he called Detective Chikage for help—because he was thinking of me.

It's really strange. I hadn't told anyone but the police about my plan. I'd been so worried, but it was the opposite.

He'd agonized over what words to use to tell me "Don't get worked up over Miiko. I'm partly to blame for Miiko's situation too. Let's think about it together. Let's believe Miiko's alive and search. Until we find her." While I was worrying, he'd apparently been watching me the whole time.

He'd even listened from the shadows to my reasoning about Kitsunesaki once. When Kitsunesaki couldn't accept the reasoning and went berserk, he worried about what would happen to me and asked Detective Chikage for help. Then he went to get a bamboo sword.

When he came back, Kitsunesaki was lying in a pool of blood...

"So that's how it was, President. Thank you so much... And thank you for forgiving me about Miiko!"

The President laughed at my actions.

"You don't have to be so formal! Part of the blame is mine for sending her shopping. Let's believe Miiko's alive."

At those words, Miiko countered uneasily, "But I'm really dead."

The President refused to lose and banished the gloom.

"What? Doesn't mean you've seen the body!"

"Th-that's..."

"Maybe she's actually locked up somewhere, pretending to be dead! Hyoga and I will definitely find her! Don't worry!"

"...Is that so..."

Somehow I started to feel like laughing, too. I should've been honest with the President from the start. I might've put the President in danger, but if I stopped him, I could consider the risks and stop him.

"From the beginning... this is what I should've done."

I'll rely on the President's brightness. Then, suddenly, the President's smartphone in his back pocket rang.

"...At a time like this... Chikage... huh. Hyoga. She says she has something to tell you, even though you hate detectives!"

The President quickly handed the smartphone to me. For a moment I thought of checking the browsing history the President left on the internet.

But this was no time for jokes. His serious face said so.

"W-what could have happened...?"

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