Vol 2 Chapter 1 (1/2)
SECRET FILES – KIZUNA
the cry of the dead (TRANSLATION NOTES)
Haruka looked out thefroer seat
After that, they ordered takeaway and had sushi+ together Gotou was driving her home
Isshi+n and Gotou had told her about Yakumo’s past, which was alien to her –
It was hard to breathe, like so her chest, but for so enveloped by so warm
A strange feeling –
‘You thinking about Yakumo?’ said Gotou from the driver’s seat
'That isn’t it’
Haruka quickly denied it
'Liar It’s written on your face’
Gotou looked at her fully – it seemed like she hadn’t been able to fool him
Haruka knew she was the sort of person who couldn’t hide things, but being seen through so easily made her feel pathetic
'I just thought that I really didn’t know anything about Yakunation
That was how she truly felt
The more she found out about Yakumo’s unknown past, the further she felt from him
'Haruka-chan, you know Yakuh?’ said Gotou, lighting his cigarette at the traffic like
'I want to know
'You’re completely a maiden in love’
Gotou laughed aloud
Haruka went red up to her ears and hid her face
'No, that isn’t it’
Though she tried to deny it, she felt herself that she wasn’t convincing
'Then let’s talk about another story from Yakumo’s past’
Gotou waited for the light to turn green and started talking
'Another…’
'Yeah It was a week after the incident with his teacher…’
1
'A corpse was found’
Gotou Kazutoshi+ was told that a week after the incident with Akemi
The scene was a park about five minutes from the train station
With a pond in the shape of a gourd, the park had floating piers over the narrow parts You could take se pond for fun
The path around the pond was laid with bricks, and there were benches facing the pond about every ten metres
It was also a local date spot
In contrast to that, when you went to the back of the pond, there were knee-high weeds and a thicket with oak trees – it was like a completely different place
After passing through the steel gates to the park and walking along the pond on dead leaves, Gotou spotted a crowd of people at a floating pier
In the middle was a woman’s corpse –
Gotou pushed his way through the crowd and went up to the wo pier
A wo hair
Though she earing clothes, her body was completely soaked
It was al in the pond
Since she was face-down, Gotou couldn’t see her face, but fro woman
A fly had stopped on the woers
It was crawling about, rubbing both legs together
'This is awful…’
Gotou waved the fly away
'Gotou-kun, right?’
A hoarse voice called out to him Gotou looked up
An old man hite hair and a face like a dried persirin on his face inappropriate for a scene where a corpse was found
It was Hata, the perverted coroner who said that autopsying was his hobby
'Don’t grin next to a corpse It’s indiscreet’
Gotou stood up with a click of his tongue
'Your existence is more of an indiscretion,’ Hata said sha
'The hell does that mean, you damn old man?’
'My interest helps the investigation, but all you do is take up space I’ you’re no help at all’
– Acting like I’m an object
'Am I oversized rubbish?’
'So you know’
Hata s his teeth like a skeleton
'Since you’re here, is this an unnatural death?’ asked Gotou, restraining hi Hata down
'You really are an idiot’
'What?’
'All deaths that we can’t tell the cause of are unnatural deaths,’ said Hata in a led, which made his shoulders shake
– Tripping me up
'So do you have an idea about the cause of death?’
'You’re so i’
Hata let out another creepy laugh
'Ah, I see Accident, suicide, murder – anyway, tell me what you know’
'This is a murder, no doubt about it,’ Hata said coolly
– Murder?
Gotou couldn’t ignore that
'You just said that you didn’t know the cause of death earlier What are you talking about?’
Without responding to Gotou’s question, Hata crouched in front of the woman and rolled up her blue blouse
Her white back was revealed
'W-what the hell is this!?’
There were countless injuries there – it looked like she had been cut with a knife
The injuries were quite deep –
Her skin was turned up at the edges, like trenches had been dug into it
'You can tell froht? They’re cuts’
'Are these the cause of death?’
'No Probably these were done while she was still alive’
Hata scratched his chin
'While she was still alive… Was she tortured?’
In Gotou’s head, an i cut appeared
A chill ran down his spine Maybe the culprit was an unbelievable sadist
'That isn’t it’
Hata shook his head
'Then what is it?’
'Think with your head a bit This is a e’
'A e?’
Hata nodded Then, he stuck out his chin to signal for Gotou to look at the back again
– If you understand, just explain
Gotou sed his irritation and looked once more at the woman’s back
'What… is this…’
Gotou could understand what Hata meant
This was a e –
The cuts on the woman’s back spelt words
<ugly die=””>
Writing words into somebody’s skin – this was mad
The culprit must have hated the victim
– Looks like it’ll be an unpleasant case
A vague anxiety was born within Gotou
2
Gotou left that confusing place and went to the park’s ement office
Miyagawa had transferred after Akeanisation of partners in the detective depart well, so now Gotou had no partner
There was a problem with the command of the new chief, Ideuchi
Thanks to that, it had been a while since Gotou had returned to the scene
'That half-baked baldy,’ e
It looked like you could borrow boats from here It had a front counter and there was the office behind it
Gotou saoman in a blue uniform with her head on the table and both hands over an electric heater
'You an employee?’
When he called out to her, her shoulders jolted and she lifted her head
Her makeup was so thick it seemed inappropriate for the situation
'Ah, yes,’ the woman replied in a low voice
Ignoring the location, Gotou felt like he’d slipped into a bar in the rundown districts
'What’s your name?’
'My name is Tachibana Fumiko’
'What are you doing here?’
Gotou put out his police ID
'Eh, er, I was told to stay here’
'By who?’
'A detective named shi+mamura Er… The woman’s corpse I was the first one who found it’
Fu excuses for adultery
'It’s not like I suspect you’
Gotou lit a cigarette
'Is that so…’
'So what’s the situation?’
'Ah, yes I told shi+mamura-san…’
'Sorry, but could you tell me one more time?’
Gotou didn’t wait for Fumiko to reply He sat on the chair opposite her
'It’ll be the same story I told before…’
Fumiko looked up at Gotou with hesitation
'I don’t mind’
After Gotou said that firmly, Fumiko nodded reluctantly
'Excuse me… Where should I start…’
'When did you find the corpse?’
Gotou hated roundabout questions He went straight for the topic
'I don’t know exactly, but it was probably before nine’
'Where were you until then?’
'Cleaning the park’
'When did you come to the park?’
'I caed and then picked up rubbish and swept’
Fu scolded
It see suspected
'I’ the facts’
'Oh’
Though it didn’t look like Fuardless
'What’d she look like when you found her?’
'At first I didn’t realise I just thought there was so on the water… Then when I went up…’
It see the scene, as her broas furrowed and her lips were tre
'Was anybody nearby?’
'I fainted, so I don’t know’
Fuht cry at any ainst her mouth and lay down
Gotou spotted her red manicure, which didn’t match for an employee who cleaned up rubbish
'So was there anything that caught your concern? Not just from today’
'Hm…’
'Like suspicious people hanging around recently or screa’s fine’
Fu Finally, she let out an 'Ah!’
'Did you re?’
Gotou’s hopes went out even if he didn’t want them to
'N-no It isn’t anything big There was just so I was concerned about…’
'So you were concerned about?’
'Ah, but even if I tell you this, Detective…’
'It’s fine Just tell me,’ Gotou said forcefully
He’d be too curious if the story just stopped in the middle like this
Though Fu
'A ghost appears in this park’
'A ghost?’
Gotou’s voice cracked at the unexpected reply
– A ghost of all things
Gotou understood why Fumiko didn’t want to talk
'I really shouldn’t have mentioned that to you, Detective’
Fuetic as she hunched her shoulders
If it were Gotou from a bit before, he would probably have ended the conversation right there for being ridiculous, but now Gotou couldn’t hosts
It was because Saitou Yakumo, the boy with a red left eye that could see the spirits of the dead, was in his head
'I don’t mind Let me hear it’
'All right… There’s a ruhost appears in this park’
Fumiko sounded hesitant
'What sort of rumour?’
'People say that a girl was killed in this park, and when night co around…’
'Have you seen her?’
'Eh?’
Fumiko looked blank
'I said, have you seen the ghost?’
'At first I didn’t believe it either But…’
Fu
'One day, I took soht Then, near the pond, I heard so’
'Then?’
'I went to the pond Then…’
Fumiko sed
'At the floating pier, there was a girl with a ponytail When I asked her what she was doing, that girl disappeared like smoke’
'Disappeared?’
'Yes Even though the girl disappeared, I could hear her voice…’
'What did she say?’
'I’ll curse you! I’ll curse you and kill you! That’s what she said’
Fumiko leant foride eyes, as if she herself had becohost
Gotou leant back under that force
Then, his cigarette ash fell to the floor –
3
After Gotou left the office, he ith forensics and other officers to investigate the area
They walked around the thicket surrounding the pond until late at night, but they couldn’t find anything that stood out
However, Gotou didn’t feel disappointed
He knew that this was how investigations were
Especially for ht, Gotou thought that they had to do what they were good for
Gotou left the officers at the scene and went to the floating pier
He looked at the water where the victi
The palewater surface
Gotou lit a cigarette and blew out the smoke towards the sky
The ie he’d seen earlier came to his head The words cut into the woman’s back
<ugly die=””>
The words sounded hateful, if just looking at the
However, Gotou didn’t think it was just that
Hata had said it was a e for?
Maybe there was a code in that short e
Splash
A koi leapt out of the pond
– Well, I don’t think I’ll reach the answer by thinking about it
Gotou sarette in an ashtray and turned away fro pier
He walked on the path by the pond
He took the car he had parked near the entrance and leant back on the driver’s seat When he reached out to try to turn the key, he felt like he heard so
– What is that?
Gotou stopped breathing and focussed on listening
However, all he heard was the sound of wind rustling the trees
Because of the ghost story he’d heard froht have become too sensitive
'It’s not like me’
Even though there was nobody he had to ine key and started the car
Then, so his car
A person
A girl in a uniform with a ponytail
– crap!
Gotou slammed the brakes and spun the wheel
– I won’t make it
Everything see in slow motion
For a irl’s
They were opened wide, but they were dark with no life in them –
The car spun halfway around, kicking up sand
– damn it! What the hell!
Gotou ran out of the car
'Oi! You OK?’
Even though Gotou was yelling frantically, nobody was there
Just the dark and the quiet
He looked around for the girl, but he couldn’t find her anywhere
Gotou checked the car bonnet and under the car, but there wasn’t even a scratch
He hadn’t hit anybody But it would have been i
– Was I seeing things?
'da!?’
Gotou kicked the tire as hard as he could and went back to the driver’s seat with unsettled feelings
Maybe he’d seen an illusion because of the story earlier?
'Am I tired?’
Gotou asked hiarette and leant back on the seat
Rustle
Gotou heard so behind him
He sat up and looked at the rear-view mirror
In the rectangular rear-viewlike a black shadow
– That’s a person
Soot into the backseat
Calm down Gotou told himself that and took a deep breath His back was sticky with sweat
His eyes were growing accustoh it was blurry, he could see the contours of the person in the backseat
It was a girl in a blazer uniform
The sairl I saw earlier –
Her ponytail was drenched
Drip, drip, drip
Water dripped onto the seat
'Who are you!?’
Gotou raised his fist and turned around as he said that
There was –
nobody there
Even though she was there just earlier –
Bzzzz!
The police wireless attached to the car suddenly let out noise
Gotou leapt up at how unexpected it was
He reached out to turn down the volume
– Aaaahh!
The wireless let out a strange voice, like a wail or a screen, interrupting Gotou
’… Le…t… me… di e…’
'Shut up!’
Gotou lifted his foot and kicked the wireless
The sound stopped
'I’o to hell!’
4
The next day, an investigation
Gotou sat at the table in the very back and listened to Ideuchi talk about the investigation
The victim’s name was Kaneda Misako Twenty years old An office worker at a cosmetics company
The cause of death was pressure on the neck
There were signs on her neck that she was strangled with a rope
The injuries on her back were, as Hata had first theorised, done while she was alive
Since ation departe
They were told to continue the investigation with a focus on Fu cabaret club custo was adjourned
However, Gotou still had no partner and didn’t receive directions for the investigation either
Maybe Ideuchi didn’t like him
After leaving the conference room by himself, Matsumura from forensics called out to him
'Got soht now?’ Matsu around
Time –
'I got tons’
'I see There’s so I want your advice on…’
– Advice?
Gotou had joined at the same time as Matsumura, but they hadn’t really talked before It’d be the first ti the last case
It was partly because they were in different departments, but it was also because Matsuave the impression that he was hard to approach
Even if Matsu if he didn’t know Matsumura well
'You’ve got the wrong guy If you’re unhappy with the investigation, say that to the chief’
'No, it has to be you’
What’s he saying such creepy things for? Is hefun of me?
Gotou glared at Matsuaze He put his hands together 'Please’
It actually piqued Gotou’s interest with Matsumura so intent
'Advice for what?’
'There’s a photo I want you to look at’
– Photo?
Gotou was even more confused
'Got it’
There was no point worrying about it When Gotou responded, Matsued him to return to the conference room
Looked like he didn’t want other people to hear
'So what a photo?’ joked Gotou, sitting opposite Matsumura
'Aren’t you married, Gotou?’ responded Matsumura, his eyes incredibly serious
This hy Gotou kept a distance from him
'Then what am I supposed to look at?’
When Gotou urged Matsumura to continue, he took a photo out of the file he was carrying and placed it on the table with tre expensive
It looked like a regular photo of yesterday’s scene
It was an enlarged shot In the middle of the photo, there was a corpse, and there were detectives and guys from forensics around it
Gotou was in there too
It wasn’t some school trip, so the photo probably hadn’t been taken for memory’s sake
'What’s up with the photo?’
'Look at the corpse’s side’
Matsumura spoke in a low voice
'The corpse’s side?’
Gotou looked at the photo again
'Ah!’
The photo slipped from his hand
A chill ran down his spine
– My eyestricks on me
As Gotou thought that, he looked once more at the photo that had fallen on the table
– They weren’t
Gotou felt an unpleasant jolt
There was a girl in a blazer unifor at the corpse’s side
A girl with her hair in a ponytail
She was completely soaked, like she had come out of the water
Since she was looking down, Gotou shouldn’t have been able to see her face, but he felt like there was a faint smile there
'The girl froht…’
Gotou said that without thinking
He thought 'crap’ immediately afterwards
– Did he hear me?
Gotou hurriedly looked at Matsumura, but then he was the one who looked at him with a question in his eyes
'That girl should not have been there,’ said Matsu voice
There was no objection in that voice Which means he must have noticed
'What do you think?’ asked Gotou
'I think she host’
Matsumura sounded even confident
'Quite a thing to say for someone as deadly serious as you’
'Then hoould you explain the girl?’
Gotou couldn’t answer Matsumura’s question
Just fro at the photo, it would host
But if there was a ghost here, that would mean somebody had died there before
– Wait
Gotou’s sleeping
– I remember
Gotou had gone to that pond before
I think it was six years ago –
A girl’s corpse had showed up before at that pond, just like this time
Her father had contacted the police, saying his daughter in middle school hadn’t come home for two days
Gotou had been a traffic officer at the time He looked around the park
The officer who searched the park with hi in the pond
Gotou hadn’t been in Criminal Affairs then, so he didn’t know the details of what happened afterwards
However, he did rehter’s corpse after it was taken out of the pond
At the ti, but at the sahed aloud –
Gotou couldn’t understand the feeling of losing a child, but he still felt that laughing was odd –
'Do you have any ideas?’
Matsuht
'No, that’s not it Anyhy did you show the photo to me?’
'The et solved because you did so with some spiritual nonsense?’
'What?’
That was unexpected
'Can’t you see ghosts? That’s how you solved the case, right? That’s why this time…’
Gotou stopped listening partway through
– Is he kidding?
Even though it was said that rumours beca in his astonishment What sort of information would have to be shared for it to come to that? Gotou had no idea
He wouldn’t stand for being treated like some fake medium on a television special
'The hell are you saying? I’m… er…’
Gotou opened his mouth to object, but he couldn’t think of what else to say
In order to explain the case with the maternity clinic, he would have to talk about Yakumo
Yaku about that felt like breaking the rules somehow
'Anyway, I’ll hand the photo over I’ll leave the rest to you,’ declared Matsumura He left the room
– The story’s getting kind of warped
5
Gotou parked his car at the ates, leant back on the seat and looked at the schoolyard
The brats were running about energetically The event that happened a week ago seemed like a lie
In that cla in the shadows
– Saitou Yakumo
'Oi Yakumo’
Gotou got off the car and went up to Yaku down
Yakulanced upwards, but then he tried to walk away like he hadn’t noticed
'Oi, wait’
Gotou ran after Yaku his shoulder to force him to stop
'What do you want?’
Yaku
He was clearly acting hostile
'Two things’
'Talk already You’re wasting my time’
'One – I wanted to tell you that teacher’s last words’
The corners of Yakumo’s eyes seemed to drop
'Her last… words?’
He murmured that in a voice that trembled faintly
'Right That teacher said your name at the end’
'Mine?’
Yakumo’s mouth opened in surprise
It made sense for him to be surprised, but it was the truth
Gotou didn’t know the details, but Akemi had been stabbed, and her throat had been cut When she had been on her last breath, she called out Yakumo’s name
'Thank you for forgiving me Yakumo-kun, you’re…’
Gotou stopped there
'What came next?’
Of course he would ask that, but unfortunately –
'I don’t know She stopped breathing then’
'You really are useless’
Yakuh his hair Then, he turned around, like he didn’t need anything more
'Wait a sec I said there were two things, right?’
When Gotou grabbed Yakuue in irritation
'You can see ghosts, right?’
'Didn’t you not believe me?’
That hurt
Defending hi would be a pain, so Gotou
'There’s so I want you to look at’
As Gotou said that, he took a photo out of his pocket and put it in front of Yakumo’s eyes
It was the photo he had received from Matsumura earlier
'What is it?’
Yakumo looked taken aback
'Spirit photography taken at a scene where a corpse was found’
'I can tell fro’
'Help with the investigation’
Yakumo shook his head like he couldn’t believe what Gotou had said
'Are you saying you’re going to use me?’
'Is that bad? All the sy to paperwork Muscle heads like ood at That’s what society is’
'What do you want to say?’
'It’s the sa special’
Yaku unpleasant
Gotou didn’t think he’d said anything wrong
He didn’t know about what other people ht think, but frohosts
'If you can see them, help me out’
Gotou tried once more, but it was no use
Yakumo brushed Gotou’s hand aside and walked away briskly without saying anything
– Should I chase him?
After thinking about it, Gotou decided to silently watch Yakumo leave
He still had tiain
6
After returning to the precinct, he sat in his own seat and lit a cigarette
The large criminal affairs division room was empty
Everyone was out investigating
In contrast, on top of hearing a ghost story fro forced to take a ghost photo froone to talk to some cheeky brat –
The cigarette sot into his eyes and made him tear up
'I wonder why…’at the photo he’d received froain
When he looked at it again, the ghost in the photo looked like the girl as found as a corpse in the pond six years ago
– No point worrying about it
Gotou picked up the receiver and dialled the internal line to forensics
Fortunately, Matsumura answered
'How’re things going?’