Vol 1 Chapter 7 (1/2)

Hope

April 12Iwato ApartmentsRooftop

“You’re lateI got tired of waiting”

Touko-san ran her fingers through her hair, which was soaked and heavy with rain

As she did, a single pearl-like droplet of water slid smoothly down her foreheadWhen it finally approached the side of her lips, Touko-san licked it up with the slender red tip of her tongue

A chill ran downwatched by a snake

When I looked, there was a boy gagged, blindfolded, and bound head and foot, cowering beside Touko-san and wearing a frightened expressionHe could not have been much older than tenA middle-schooler; no, perhaps even one of the older elementary-schoolers

Noticing the direction of ht, this is Futoda, she poked the boy’s buttocks with the toes of her high heelsThe boy’s whole body jerked stiffly as if ice had been forced down his back

“He’s still just a child!”

“If a child makes a mistake, isn’t it an adult’s job to fix it?”

Touko-san’s lips twisted in a scornful sun fro wet jacketThen, uniun at the boy

“Yes, I think so tooBut there should be no need to kill him!”

“Are you saying I should feel sorry for him because he’s a child?”

“No, it has nothing to do hether he’s a child or an adult”

“Oh, what a coincidenceI think so tooThe weight of his sins has nothing to do hether he’s a child or an adult”

“That is not what I’!”

“I’ll say this: it’s just coincidence that Futodama is a childThe result would be the same if he were an adultThe main reason is because he is Futodaes’ of his own free will”

“No!It’s not that!Please stop acting like it’s only natural for hies’!What I’ood reason to kill someone, no matter who they may be!”

Every inch ofdrenched by the chilly rainHowever, I did not feel the cold at allRather, h it were on fire

“PleaseTouko-san, do not sully your beautiful hands any further”

“ImpossibleIt’s too lateMy hands are already stained perain”

Touko-san laughed a little

“After all, I’ve already stolen ‘four people’s lives’ with these hands, you know?”

“By four people, you speak of Alex Brown, Osamu Haida, shi+rou Konno, and – Kyouhei Hioka, correct?”

“Right, as expectedYou figured out exactly what happened with Kyouhei”

“Weren’t you the one who gave me the hint and propelled me forward?”

“Oh no, you’re eh me”

Touko-san gave a self-deprecating smile

“The e of death explained one of the mysteries”

“Hmm…” Touko-san’s eyes narrowed in interest and she recrossed her legs

“The murder methods used in the cases of Alex Brown, known as Tajikarao, and Osamu Haida, known as Omoikane, can be explained by your position as the lead investigator and Kushi+nada-Hinition’However, I find only the case of shi+rou Konno, known as Sarutahiko, to be incomprehensible”

“Huh?Naoto, even if you say it’s incoht in front of our eyes, right?Then what the hell is incomprehensible?”

Next tothat in itself was incomprehensible

“shi+rou Konno gave absolutely no response no ht Site’s Reverse ChatI find it impossible to understand why he acted in such a conspicuous way as taking a hostage and barricading himself on the roofHe was so much an intellectual that he served as student council president and he was so cautious that he took great care not to speak with Miyuki Midorikawa, known as Uzu rashly”

“That’s true,” Sousei-san muttered

“Whenshi+rou Konno on the roof, he seemed to me to have been mentally corneredAt the very least, he was not the intellectual, cautious person I had iined until thenWhat I deduced from that was that someone had cornered himAnd then, when he was cornered, he cae, just as that person anticipated”

Again,Touko-san was gazing atover her student, just as she had ere standing before the gate

“Frou-tsuchi’s nau-tsuchiThe probleu-tsuchi use to corner shi+rou Konno?Neither we, nor the police, nor anyone was able to contact shi+rou KonnoThere had to be a direct method of communication to exert u-tsuchi had to have a way of co with shi+rou Konno”

“Doesn’t it have soht before he died?”

I nodded at Sousei-san’s words as I stared at Touko-san

“Sousei-san, it’s already clear fro’ that Kyouhei Hioka died on the fourth floor of Iwato Apartments, correct?”

“Yeah,” Sousei-san answered

“In that case, where is Kyouhei Hioka’s body now?”

“Huh?Where?” Sousei-san spoke hysterically

“Ifsoht?Touko-san?”

When I asked, Touko-san smiled a little and responded to ?”

“There are two reasonsOne is that it is not simple for you, a woman, to move the body of Kyouhei Hioka, a manThe other is that this is the place Kyouhei Hioka chose to die, and I believe you would respect his wishes”

As usual, Touko-san wore a satisfied expressionSo of the sortIt was as if she was truly overjoyed at divulging her secrets to me

“It is obvious that Touko-san, who dealt with the body, would also control Kyouhei Hioka’s possessionsAnd a those possessions should have been ‘the cell phone Kyouhei Hioka stole from Miyuki Midorikawa’I believe that cell phone was the method of cou-tsuchi’s posts were undoubtedly left on the forums with that cell phone”

Ireen from her pocket and tossed it on the floorWhen I looked, it was a gaudy green cell phone decorated with rhinestonesMost likely, it was Miyuki Midorikawa’s cell phone

“PerfectNaotoThat was nificent”

In the next un

“It’s just as you deduced, NaotoI u-tsuchi’s posts on this phoneshi+rou Konno’s mail address was on there tooWith that address, I repeatedly sent hi but ‘No matter where you hide, I’ll surely find and kill you’”

Touko-san stated in a bored tone

“It’s true that shi+rou Konno was an intellectual and cautious person, but since he hid himself so quickly, he also had to be nervous and cowardlyI figured he would slip up sooner or later if he was corneredIt was just as I expectedBut I ht’ve pushed hie and barricade himself on the roof”

Touko-san snorted scornfully

“Touko-san, you are a frightening person”

I felt only fear at the accuracy of her predictive abilities, as exhibited until now in her role as a detectiveOn top of that, she could see ten minutes into the future with her Persona’s ability, and so it was only natural that she could anticipate everyone’s actions, including my own

“You two did everything just as I expectedLike Naoto guessed, I gave you a little hint and you reached ht answerAnd now, the two of you are here”

Touko-san’s perfectly clear eyes proved that her words were no mere bluff

“I don’t care what anyone thinks ofthe way I believe inSo I don’t care if everyone despises me and curses me and resents me forever as a traitor and a murdererAnd that’s because I know that’s the only way I can live… But even though I’, somehow it seems like even I have a bit of a cute side”

Touko-san shtly embarrassed smile was so innocent that it did not at all look like that of someone who had killed four people

“I don’t want muchJust a little is fineNaoto, I wanted you to know the truth, why I made these kinds of choicesYou’re free to think what you want of me now that you knowI don’t knohen to quit, and maybe I just wanted to leave some proof that I existed in this world, no matter how small”

These were her true feelingsIn truth, that Tohru Momochi, known as Futodama, had not yet been killed may have been because she wanted us to witness the completion of her work

“And so you requested that I join the investigation and partnered me with Sousei-san?”

Most likely, when he was on the verge of death, Kyouhei Hioka had felt the sa moments, he just wanted Touko-san to understandHe wanted her to remember

“Like we discussed before, you and Sousei ht’ve had some compatibility as fellow Persona users, but the main reason was because I’ e to the two of you”

Touko-san s at allI understood

–In the next un in our directionAt the sa out and a bullet bounced on the concreteGunpowder smoke rose from the muzzle

“–Sousei, it’s badBehave yourself for a bit longer, please”

Touko-san’s sharp gaze was directed at Sousei-san, as huddled low to the ground “Che” I thought he had been quiet for a while, and it see to subdue Touko-san

“D-Don’t screith me!Touko!”

Then Sousei-san stomped the concrete floor stubbornly with one foot

“I get it!You plan to ‘die here’!Right now, you look the sa your ‘dying ainst that!”

I felt the same way as Sousei-sanJust like Kyouhei Hioka, Touko-san thought of e

“Right, right, I should warn you twoDon’ttoo close toon?”

Saying that, Touko-san rapped the black wooden box with her fingertips

“You know, this is the ‘tiht from the station”

It ritten in the database entry on Kyouhei HiokaAlong with a gun and bullets, Kyouhei Hioka had taken a bomb that had been seized as evidence from a bo

“Originally it was set by Kyouhei, and it’s not my specialty so I don’t really know the details, but fro it’s just a simple bomb with an in-line detonator”

Touko-san slid to the side of her seat and lifted the top of the box, letting us see inside

“I was involved too, so I know the crazy guy who made these bombs wasn’t just touched in the head, but also a sore loserThere are a lot of dummy wires in here”

Red, blue, yellow, and green colorful cords were crowded together inside the box

“Even if I knew about this stuff, it would take too much luck to disable the bomb’s timerIt can’t be stopped once it’s started the countdownIn other words, what I’ to say is – no one can stop me now!”

“It can’t be!Touko-san, you can’t mean that!”

“By the way, it seeh power to obliterate these rundown apartments, you know?”

RightShefull of memories, the place where Kyouhei Hioka sleptAnd she meant to take Futodama with her

“It’s akushi+ Judges’Then all I have to do is hit the detonation switch, look back onlife as the ti at what a stupid woman I was”

Even though she only had a gun and bo we could do, and in addition, she could see the futureShe would have predicted our actionsIn reality, we, the police, and the es” – everyone had acted as she expected up until now

Was there anything we could do?Was there really no helping it?It felt as if I would be crushed byto rely on soly to the side

When I did, the person next to lint in his eyeSo in which to secure Touko-san

Right now, seeing his unyielding attitude, I felt that he was more reliable than anyone

“This concerns your criminal motive, but Touko-san, you told es’ were not to carry on Kyouhei Hioka’s will”

My partner had not yet given upAnd so it would be rude of th

“You said it wasn’t because you wanted revenge against the people who drove Kyouhei Hioka crazyIn that case, I believe it’s likely that you are consigning the ‘Five Togakushi+ Judges’ to oblivion through your will alone, Touko-san”

I had no goal in mindI most definitely did not have a planOn the other hand, I could not allow le as much as I couldThat was all I could do as a detective

“The hint was in your past conversation with Kyouhei Hioka fro your pastThe past where your parents were killed by a criminalThe merciless attitude toward criminals you’ve shown a few times beforeTouko-san, don’t you coes’, but all those who are coh you’ve taken over Kyouhei Hioka’son his will, correct?”

Touko-san looked up at the cloudy sky

“I hate talking about the pastIt only brings back bad memoriesSo the only ones I’ve told about one now”

Touko-san stared closely at the dark, heavy clouds, as if peering through them

“It’s not a nice storyDo you still want to hear it?”

“YesI want to know more about you” I nodded firmly

“We won’t get it if you don’t tell us!” Sousei-san declared curtly

“Thanks” Touko-san laughed a little

“–I was a first-year in middle schoolWhen my family went out on a bus trip, our bus was hijackedThe culprit was a young otten what the hijacker’s goal was and what he asked forI’ worthlessAnyway, I clearly reht in the head”

In irl

“Theknife in his handThe first person he stabbed with that blade was my father, a police officerMy father tried to subdue the man but messed upThe next sacrifice was my round, covered in bloodAnd then the tour guide, and the conductor, and the regular custoers one after another like a er with a taste for human blood”

Touko-san’s figure was terribly vivid in the gently falling rain as she spoke steadily, her face expressionless

“At the ti inI was terrifiedBut I didn’t get as happeningWhy did this have to happen to my family e only went out on a trip?Why didwrong?It felt like my brain would explode at how impossible it all was”

Theher parents stabbed to death for no reason right in front of her eyesI thought there could be nothing crueler

“And then finally the etBut I was saved by the driver’s quick thinkingThe driver swerved quickly, and the man lost his balance and I was just barely savedOf course, the man was infuriated and killed the driverI was a kid, but even I kneould happen to a bus if the driver diedWhen the bus started drifting, the man lost his balance, fell over, hit the back of his head hard against the floor, and lost consciousnessUs surviving passengers were happy when he passed outBut the bus would crash at that rate and wewith the crazy manThat hen I spaced out, sat down in the blood-covered driver’s seat, and held on tight to the steering wheelOf course, there was no way a middle-schooler like me would kno to driveI just felt like ould definitely die if no one did anythingJust that feeling made me move”

Touko-san spread her arms wide

“As you can see, I’m still aliveIn the end, the bus stopped safely, the hijacker was arrested by police who rushed to the scene, and everyone applauded me as a heroic middle-schooler”

Touko-san’s mouth twisted and she cast down her eyes

“That tihtI saw ‘a future where I will be saved’In that life-or-death situation, pushed to my limits, I wished I wouldn’t die froht I ht be saved if I could see the futureAnd then my Persona awakenedOf course, it wasn’t ten minutes ahead like it is now; I’d just awakened, so I could only see ten seconds into the futureBut it was enough to see the bus stopping”

Touko-san looked between Sousei-san and me

“The Persona abilities you two received are a result of what you strongly wished for in your hearts, right?”

True, I had strongly wished for the power to support someone when it had seemed that I would be killed by Sousei-san when he went berserkUndoubtedly, Sousei-san had also strongly wished for the power to see the past

“By the hat do you think happened to the hijacker as arrested after that?”

In the next aze turned so cold I could feel the chill in the air

“The uilty”

It was by no means an uncommon occurrenceIf abnormal results were detected in a psychiatric exaally accountable at the time of the crime and was sent to a psychiatric institutionIn the case of a severe disability, they would be isolated and receive medical treatmentAnd then the criminal would live out the remainder of his life in the institution

It could be said that this was a typical outcome, but the victims surely felt conflicted

Touko-san’s mouth twisted into a wry smile

“It’s like a joke, right?So this weird to happen?The dissatisfaction I felt when I heard the news… I can’t put it into wordsI wasn’t angry or sad or , just detachedThat hen I was convincedCrimes were absurdThe cried with common sense at all”

However, her eyes were not s

“I joined the police because I wanted to use the law as a front to exterminate criminalsEven today I try to mercilessly crack down on the criminals I come across”

I believed there was no reason for Touko-san to lie now that we had come this farIn addition, it was not as if I could not understand what she was saying

“That’s why it’s not surprising for ht?It’s nothing more than my life’s work, you know?”

People like Touko-san who had had tragic life experiences in the past sometimes held twisted values like those she spoke ofI could hardly say it was impossible

“I don’t believe you”

However, I knew her, and so there was an unerasable sense of unease within me

“At the very least, the Touko Aoi I know is an ahts within you, surely you are aware of the duty a detective must carry out!”

“Yeah, I think so tooEveryone knows Touko’s got nowrong this ti before that totally made sense”

At htIf it was someone who knew Touko Aoi well, they could not possibly accept what she was currently saying

Touko-san was silent and did not respondShe wore an uncole conclusion

“Touko-san, wasn’t it the case that Kyouhei Hioka was so like a ‘brake’ to you?”

I re togetherHe had desperately tried to persuade herHe had strongly ad was incorrect These ords he had uttered after hearing of Touko-san’s tragic past and her opposition to criht now

In other words, Touko-san had been able to cultivate the ie of an unflappable detective because she had had a safety device named Kyouhei Hioka

“I’ itIt’s pretty clear if you look at oneI don’t want to admit it, but I acted like a decent person because Kyouhei was a brake”

Touko-san’s eyes narrowed and she s Kyouhei Hioka in days gone by

“Touko-san, please let –”

I seized upon this as the critical moment

“–Why did you kill Kyouhei Hioka?”

I inquired forcefully

“We know from the past conversation that he himself wanted it to be soNevertheless, why did you have to bear that painful, heavy responsibility?”

Touko-san’s expression gave away even less than it had before

“It’s not like the thought of just watching over Kyouhei as he died didn’t cross my mind”

“Then why!”

“One reason is because that hat he wanted, like you said, NaotoAnother is that I couldn’t forgive hi himself killed by a criht I would end it with my own handsThat’s all”

The events at the ate, after she had shot and killed shi+rou KonnoI remembered how Touko-san had ordered us in an unusually rude tone

“Even so!Why!?You knew exactly ould happen to you if you lost your brake, Kyouhei Hioka!”

Why had I not been by her side?Why had I not been able to stop Touko-san?

Even if I regretted it, there was still nothing I could have doneWe walked separate paths in lifeEven so, I found it frustratingIf I had been by her side, perhaps I would have been able to listen to what she had to say

After she seemed to hesitate for a moment:

“That’s whyKyouhei was in the way of u-tsuchi”

Touko-san murmured emotionlessly

“There was no point in just taking care of hiu-tsuchi, it was necessary for me to sever the chains Kyouhei had on me with my own hands”

When Touko-san spoke of “beco a demon”A “murderous demon”, at that

“Why!?Kyouhei Hioka did not wish for you to becou-tsuchi!Touko-san, Kyouhei Hioka did not e!”

“That’s rightI was the one anted to be Kagu-tsuchiKyouhei wasn’t the kind of person ould want that fro me, NaotoAnd–”

In the next moment, Touko-san furrowed her brow and bit her lower lip, as if in pain

“–I also know better than anyone that I was the one responsible for killing him”

“Y-You were responsible?What do you mean…?”

Naturally, I was at a loss for wordsI could not even begin to guess her

It was an incident full of ic series of misfortunes with no one to blameNonetheless, if I had to pinpoint the one responsible, all of those involved were responsible to some extent

It was true that Touko-san had dealt the finishi+ng blowHowever, I did not think that Touko-san was as responsible as she clai up to Kyouhei Hioka’s deathTo the contrary, I reone so far as to warn Kyouhei Hioka, ‘Please stop being foolish’ If I thought about it, it was possible that she would feel responsible for not being able to stop him, but was that really the case?

Touko-san let out a great sighHer breath contained a slight tremble

“Like you’d expect, even I shook when I pointed the gun at KyouheiBut only for a short tierAfter I fired, it was like rew cold, and I no longer felt sad or lonely or anything”

Touko-san gave a bewitching smile that sent a shi+ver down my spine

“Since I overca akushi+ Judges’,humanBack then, when I crossed the line and killed Kyouhei, I became a demon”

Wearing a resolute expression that said she had accepted her imminent death, Touko-san said:

“All right, that’s enoughWe’ve gone over everything I wanted to talk aboutNaoto, Sousei, I’m happy I could meet you at the endTake care of yourselves, you two”

I realized that she still carried her “hidden feelings” deep within her heart

In that htly clutched the pendant at her chest “Answer raceful like a celestial maiden

“W-Wait!I’!”

I cried out desperately, but Touko-san’s hand did not stopShe stubbornly pressed the boazine

In the next ital numbers appeared on the front of the black boxThe nuan: [09:59]

“–It’s just as you seeYou’ve got just under ten minutesThe two of you don’t need to dieYou should be able to get far away in ten minutesLeave these apartments now”

The rain had started falling harder and thunder was roaring in the faraway sky without

“By the way, the two of you reht?”

When Touko-sanbehind the time limit placed on the bomb

“You can see ten minutes into the future – so what kind of future do you see ten minutes from now, Touko-san…?”

Touko-san spread out her hands

“NothingI don’t see anythingIt’s the first time this has happened”

What did this mean?I wore a dubious expression

“Why don’t I see anything in the future?Most likely, that’s because ten er aliveBy the way,No et out of here!”

Her voice said she had abandoned realityIn this desperate situation, I was as unable to move as if I had been struck

“What’re you doing just standing around!?Naoto!I’ll go!”

In the nexttoward Touko-sanTouko-san iun

“I’ll shoot!Stop, Sousei!”

“If you’re gonna shoot me, just do it!Sorry, I’m a robot!I’ to me!”

He would risk himself for this opportunitySousei-san was prepared to be shot if itTouko-san

“Who said I’ll shoot you, Sousei?”

“S-Sousei-san, wait!Stop!”

Right then, I shouted loudlyThat was because the one Touko-san leisurely pointed the gun’s muzzle at was not Sousei-san, but Futodama

“Da me!?”

Brought to an abrupt halt, Sousei-san glared at me and yelled

“Are you saying it’s okay if Touko dies!?”