Part 12

Ran: (I don't know whether you prepared this recall for me to comfort me or to torment me.)

Ran: (With the way everything ultimately turned out, what's the point of having a conversation with Koizumi-sensei again?)

Ran: (But... I really do want to talk with her again, even if it's just in the recalls.)

Ran: Because her injury was related to me, so I'd like to chat with Koizumi a little more.

Tama: Okay, then. I'll go find Asakura-san.

Koizumi put her feet on the floor as she fidgeted nervously with her hair.

Ran sat down next to her, looking down at the floor. She counted the number of tiles on the floor, unwilling to speak first.

Koizumi: Ibuki-san? What's wrong?

Ran: Koizumi, uh... What if, what if you ultimately wound up becoming a teacher anyways? What would you think about that?

Koizumi lowered her hand, and turned her gaze away from Ran.

Koizumi: So Ibuki-san also does not believe that I have the power to refuse my parents' demands of me, then?

Ran: N-No!

Ran reached out in a panic and grabbed Koizumi by the shoulder, but Koizumi still refused to look at her.

Ran: I just meant, y'know, what if- I just wanted to know how you felt about teaching, itself.

Koizumi: I don't really feel anything about it. Ibuki-san, you should understand that my reason to not want to be a teacher has nothing to do with the occupation itself.

Ran: I know... But, I mean, I'm sure you'd make a wonderful teacher.

Ran tried to smile as she spoke. To her, Koizumi Hyuga was, after all, certainly an incomparable teacher.

Koizumi: Even if that were the case, it'd still have been because I was forced to become a 'wonderful teacher', right?

Ran shook her head furiously.

She didn't want the time that she'd spent with Koizumi-sensei, before, to have been the result of coercion.

Koizumi: Not to mention, there's no way I'd make a good teacher or anything. All I know how to do is force myself to accept the things I dislike, and to complete my job. That's it.

Ran: But... I think-

Ran: Koizumi, you're both gentle and pretty. I know that any student would like a teacher like that.

Koizumi shook her head. The fingers of her hands had knotted themselves together into one single clump.

Koizumi: I don't know. I don't really like kids- and I can't really make a positive example of myself, either. Am I supposed to teach all of my students to be as gloomy as I am?

Koizumi raised her hands and grasped Ran's wrist. Even more evident than the few tears flowing from her eyes was the disappointment Ran could see in them.

Koizumi: Ibuki-san, to me, accepting my parents' requests isn't as simple as a matter of being forced to choose an occupation.

Koizumi: This is an opportunity for me to learn to refuse my parents, and to truly live in this world the way I'd like to live. Why are you trying to make me accept it after all?

Koizumi: If I fail this time, I'm sure that I'll find myself convincing myself to just accept things as they are, sooner or later, like a frog that's accepted the warm water of the heating pot.

Ran: But, Koizumi...

Koizumi: One of these days, my parents will tell me to marry some stranger, and tell me that things will work out after you get to know each other a bit, heating up the water just a little further.

Koizumi: And on that day, I'll truly lose the chance to change my life forever. Ibuki-san, I'm not strong enough that I can continue to struggle and fight even after I've already been mired.

Koizumi held Ran's wrist tightly, and smiled through the tears on her face.

Koizumi: I have to be able to grasp onto something, and to escape this mire that I've found myself in, before that day comes. ...So, please speak no further on this.

But the truth that Ran had lived through told her, that in the end, Koizumi Hyuga had still failed. Her life had sunken into the mire and been covered by warm water, just as Koizumi had said it would.

Ran couldn't help her, and hadn't thought to go and do something for her, and had only used self-deceiving guilt to try to assuage those memories.

And now, this young Koizumi full of possibility and hope appearing before her, only reinforced the fact that her future was already unchangeable and carved in stone.

Koizumi: There's no need to worry, though, Ibuki-san.

Koizumi: As I said yesterday, after having a conversation with you, I'm full of confidence. I'm sure I'll be able to explain to my parents that I'm not willing to become a teacher.

Ran had already heard those words yesterday. She did her best to nod.

Ran: Mm. I'm sure you can. Yeah.

Ran: (Do you really think that this is necessary? Always making me looking at situations that could have gone differently, without actually letting me touch the timeline or making any kind of meaningful change.)

Ran: (I don't want to look at this anymore. I only want to observe those recalls which have the possibility of making a difference for the present situation. Please.)

Ran closed the notebook, and ended the recollections.

Ran: (Feels like I've picked up on lots more clues. Tomorrow I'll reorganize all these clues with miss Sakura, and see if we can't get to the bottom of this incident.)

Ran: (Koizumi-sensei... if I can take miss Sakura out of here, we'll come visit you. I hope that when we see you, we'll find you happy- and alive.)

I opened my eyes, and perched on the side of the bed. Today was colder than all the previous days. I hoped Ran Ibuki wouldn't catch a cold.

Ran?: She just finished a recall. She's very tired, and she needs rest. You should go.

It didn't speak. The head-like organ simply pulsed at me with an inconsistent frequency.

The sound of revolving stellar bodies erupted with greater force than the last time, and the stars that hovered between the spherical masses that made up much of its lower body glimmered with faint light.

I imagined that was where the sound was coming from.

Ran?: I'm pretty sure I know what it was that you did, but I don't really know why.

[Protection]

Ran?: Oh, sure, protection. I've seen plenty of entities like you, who've described their actions towards Ran as 'protection', while secretly harboring sinister intent.

[To match her expectations, I have utilized everything at my disposal
To comfort her inner heart, I have woven suffering]

Ran?: You're like all the other things that have appeared to interfere with her before. You just want to satisfy your own desire for her.

Ran?: Protection, companionship, whatever- those things are all excuses. Ran only needs one abnormality at her side, and that abnormality is me.

The sound of exploding galaxies rose in intensity, and its head crept closer towards Ran's.

[The beloved child of the human mother is irreplaceable
The claw of desire eternally creeps closer to her]
Including yours as well]

I raised my hand and grabbed it by its irregular head, squeezing it tight like a toy. The irregular pulsation of its head ceased, but the sound of the stars grew even further in magnitude.

I was certain that sound was its heartbeat.

Ran?: In my heart, the 'irreplaceability' of Ran Ibuki, is different from what you all mean by 'irreplaceable'.

I released my grip, and it immediately pulled its body back, to put some distance between me and it. But it didn't seem to want to get too far away from Ran Ibuki entirely, and slowly it approached once more.

It was obviously scared of what I'd just done.

Ran?: But what I feel is completely irrelevant to you. Hurry and leave. Ran needs rest.

The sound of the stars quieted, and it slowly shuffled its body- though it didn't look like it was trying to leave the room.

[You love her]

Ran?: I just want to be by her side and protect her, that's all.

Just like a weapon that a mortal human might use for self-defense, Ran Ibuki could utilize me to protect herself as well. It was just that I continued with this duty even while she was asleep.

I sat on the edge of the bed, and opened the notebook, lightly caressing the words that Ran had written down herself.

There were far too many holes in the notes. I supposed that this was inextricably related to Ran's memory loss, but the greater part of the responsibility was on me.

I knew what it was that Ran had forgotten, and the empty pages of the notebook would have recorded information that would have been very painful to her.

If she could forget all these things, be like everyone else, forget everything after the passage of the great rains, and no longer be treated as the beloved child of humanity's mother...

Ran?: You can sense the outside world, can you not? Does the rain yet still fall?

[The rain of the mother has yet to abate
And shall not until her fervent wish is announced to have been destroyed]

Ran?: It's good that the rain has yet to abate. This way, the world can continue to operate peacefully.

I closed the notebook, and put it back where it was originally. Ran ought to get herself some sleep now.

Ran?: Hurry up and begone, and don't come back. Having her body borrowed by me puts extreme mental stress on Ran. I don't want her to keep eating paper.

If she kept eating the paper, the remnants of personality I had would also diminish as well.

But even in such a scenario, I'd wind up with the same personality as Ran Ibuki. That wasn't so bad.

Every time Ran saw a shaved cancer patient lying in a sickbed on TV, she'd imagine to herself what kind of pain they were going through.

Ran always wondered what was more painful- the externally visible wounds, or the internal illnesses that weren't at all apparent from the outside?

On days like this, Ran definitely knew the answer to that question.

Ran: (What the hell... I just recalled a little bit. Why's my head hurt so goddamn much.)

Ran: (I mean, sure, I died in a recall. But that should have been mitigated by my consumption of paper.)

Sai had just returned to the dorm, with a bagged-up swimsuit in hand.

Ran: My head hurts a lot. I just need to rest a bit. It's a chronic thing, been around for a long time, don't worry about it.

Ran closed her eyes. The clues relating to the Tama incident floated in her mind, interrupting her attempts to get rest.

Ran: (At this point, I feel like I've almost got it. I wonder how much progress the others have made.)

Ran: (For all I know, once I get up, Tama'll be back on her feet and hopping up and down excitedly and being all like 'Asakura-san, Asakura-san' again.)

Ran: (...Why does the idea of that kind of piss me off? I mean, it's not like I lose anything if I'm not the one to find the culprit. But still.)

Ran: (It'd even be more convenient for me if I didn't have to lift a finger. But. Ugh.)

Ran: (Porridge for breakfast. How traditional of you, Sai.)

Ran turned around and opened her eyes, intending on teasing Sai a bit. However, she saw that the person holding the food was Ann Sakura, rather.

Ran: Oh! Miss Sakura!

Ran hopped right out of bed, slipped on some outerwear, and sat up ramrod-straight, her eyes glowing with the light of terrible enthusiasm.

Ann: Am I interrupting your rest?

Ran: Oh nonono not at all.

Ran was surprised that Ann had come to find her for once- but moreso than that, she was even more surprised that she hadn't been able to identify Ann by the sound of her footsteps.

Ran: Wait a moment, I'll get right out of bed.

Ann: No need to trouble yourself. Please just rest there.

Ann put the plate of food down on the table, and walked over to the bed, reaching up on her tiptoes to grab the pillow off of Sai's bunk.

Ran found herself staring right at Ann's stomach. She fought the urge to bury her own face in it and embrace her.

Ann layered the second pillow under Ran's back, stacking the two pillows together and making an even more comfortable surface for Ran to rest on.

Ann: Alright, how's that?

Ran: It's great.

Ann: Okay. I'm going to feed you some porridge now. Think you can keep it down?

Ran: E-eh? W-with what? Your mouth?

Ann: ....

Ran: ....

Ann: I'm... pretty sure... I'm supposed to use a spoon.

Ran: ......Sorry... I just got too excited about... seeing miss Sakura come here to take care of me.....

Ran thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this.

Ann: Have I ever had to take care of you before, like this?

Ran: Yeah, though, that time the illness was way scarier. Not the kind that you got better from just by being fed porridge.

Ran: Back then, I needed your help with practically anything I wanted to do.

Ann: Is that so? Wait, don't tell me I actually fed you using my mouth back then??

That brought back countless wonderful memories for Ran, who nodded. And then nodded several more times, for emphasis.

Ann seemed somewhat taken aback- and embarrassed.

Ann: I... can't imagine what that would have been like.

Then why don't we try now

You'll remember once your memories come back to you

Ran: You'll remember once you get your memories back, miss Sakura!

Ann nodded.

Ann: But after I recover, the me that exists now will disappear as well. No matter what, I won't be able to experience that sensation myself.

Ran wanted to say that the current Ann Sakura was also very likeable, and that she enjoyed spending time with her as well.

But what she wanted from the heart, was still her lover who'd regained all of her memories.

Ran: Sorry...

Ann: No need to apologize. I was the one that made things awkward in the first place. Eat up before it gets cold.

Ann: So, are you feeling any better?

Ran: Of course! With miss Sakura around all illnesses of mine are banished instantly!

Ann brushed aside the hair on Ran's face, and tapped her own forehead to Ran's.

Ann: ...I tried to imitate what Miho does to test your temperature, but I just realized that I don't actually know what a fever is supposed to feel like.

Ran: It's okay, I'm completely fine now.

Makoto: Hm? Ibuki-san? Just got up?

Ran: Didn't feel well today so I laid in bed for a while. You?

Makoto: Without Tama, nobody was around to remind me to get up, so I overslept without noticing.

Ran: ...Oh.

Ran: (How am I supposed to continue the conversation with something like that?)

Ran: Miss Sakura, I'm about to tell you about something very important to me- namely, this notebook. Of course, your importance to me is beyond the ability of the word 'importance' to describe, miss Sakura.

Ran: So I'm only telling you, miss Sakura, about the notebook. Please don't let anybody else know of these things.

Ann nodded. Ran didn't doubt her promise for a moment.

Ran: So, these words here, I didn't write them. The notebook wrote those words, for me. Here, see, the squigglier irregular handwriting, that's my handwriting. Very different from the notebook's writing.

Ann: So the notebook takes notes automatically? I can see how useful that would be.

Ran: That's right. And by using the words written down by the notebook, I can project my consciousness to the points in time recorded by those lines of text, and make different choices than the choices I made in reality, and thus learn about more things than I could in the real world.

Ann didn't hesitate at all before responding.

Ann: Oh, I see. That's how you figured out the answer so quickly with Koizumi, right?

Ann: And you didn't explain how it was that you caught Koizumi, because you didn't want to mention the notebook?

Ran: That's right! As expected of you, miss Sakura. Your comprehension speed is top-notch!

Ann: It seems a bit incredible, yeah.

Ann put her hand on the notebook, but the notebook didn't drain her blood. The pages of the notebook only responded to Ran's hands.

Ann: I don't know why, but... touching the notebook like this, it feels... very familiar, for some reason. Have I touched it before?

Ran: I don't think so. I only acquired it after you and I were separated, miss Sakura.

Ran: For a long time, it took care of me in your stead, miss Sakura. It helped me with a lot of things.

Ran laid her own hand on the back of Ann's hand.

Ran: Now that I've got both the notebook and miss Sakura, I feel like I'm not afraid of anything anymore.

Ann: I hope I can be of use. The 'miss Sakura' you're talking about isn't me at all.

Ann retracted her hand, and Ran cursed herself for saying the wrong thing yet again.

1: Why did the culprit move the corpse?

2: Where is the murder weapon?

3: When was Tama's corpse moved?

4: Why did Tama need to be strangled to unconsciousness?

5: Why use such a strange method?

6: Is there an accomplice?

Ran: Now there's a bit of a conundrum. It's not exactly a useless inquiry, but before solving the other problems, it's hard to judge this one at all.

Ann: Let's write it down first, then, and consider it last.

Ran: How do you feel about this one, miss Sakura? Is this worth considering?

Ann: Mmm, the scene of the crime's always important to any case.

Ann: Carrying Tama's body must have consumed extraneous time for the culprit, and may possibly have left traces. But even then, she still decided to move the corpse anyways. It's worth thinking about.

Ann: Ran, how's this question?

Ran: I actually feel like we can ignore this one. Based on the circumstances, we just can't get a lot of clues from the weapon.

Ran: Real police investigators focus on finding the murder implement because they want to get clues about the culprit's identity from the weapon itself, and to determine based on the weapon's physical state whether the killer is used to murder, as well as using scientific instruments to get forensic facts out of the weapon.

Ran: Our situation's one where the murder weapon was just sitting in the tool shed, and anybody could have had an opportunity to steal the keys from Asakura?

Ann: Perhaps the place where the murderer hid the weapon could be a clue?

Ran: (Then the chances that I got murdered in the Recall because the culprit was heading there to pick up the weapon just then is significantly larger.)

Ran: If we really have to find the location of the murder weapon, that'd waste a lot of our time. We should only try something like that once we've used up all clues we have on hand.

Ann: Mmm, sure. I guess we can eliminate this avenue of inquiry, for now.

Ann: Inquiries regarding time all seem rather important, don't they?

Ran: That's right. I believe that the only thing in the world which can't be interfered with is time.

Ran: And, through recall, I have a greater field of perception to observe time itself, than anybody else.

Ran: So let's use all the clues we have regarding time to their greatest extent.

Ann: Alright, writing this one down, then.

Ann: It's a very interesting question. I feel like it pulls at quite a few clues.

Ran: That's right. Of course, there's the simple answer that strangling Tama was just to make it easier for the killer to rotate her head. But the killer could have just not chosen something as complex as rotating her head, in that case.

Ran: Instead, they went and did a lot more things and left behind a lot more clues.

Ann: So the culprit was foolish?

Ran: It doesn't matter either way. What the culprit was thinking is their own business. We just need to deduce based on the things we know actually happened.

Ran: This problem is worth consideration.

Ann: But this is a really important question.

Ran: Eh.... Kinda, sure. Indeed, this idea of 'strangeness' is a perpetual companion in an investigation. People always talk about 'oh, this guy died in a really weird way, trying to figure out why the culprit would do such a thing's definitely a worthwhile thing to investigate'.

Ran: But actual investigations don't focus on the method itself, but rather on what the culprit had to do to achieve the method.

Ann: Sounds a bit circular.

Ran: If we focus entirely on the method, it's too easy for us to get distracted with the killer's motives, like revenge or dramatizing the murder or whatnot.

Ran: Using Tama as an example, when we're focusing on what the killer had to be capable of doing to achieve this method, we start asking, when did the killer get the weapon? How tall did the culprit have to be to be able to make those marks on the tree? Etc.

Ran: Specifically focusing on the how is more meaningful and direct than the why.

Ran: So that's why I think this question doesn't demand our attention.

Ran: (So why did the murderer move the body?)

They hoped the body would be discovered more quickly

To conceal the time of death

To conceal the method of the crime

Ran: If they wanted the corpse to be found, why not just leave it at the door to the gym, rather than putting it inside the gym.

Ann: What about the opposite?

Ran: If they didn't want it to be found, then they could have just left the corpse at the scene of the murder.

Ann: Could it be that she wanted to hide it, but while heading to the gym something unexpected occurred, making it so that her only option was to put the body in the gym?

Ran: No way. Whether the culprit wanted to hide it or not, from the start they shouldn't have bothered with the gym at all. There's plenty of other places that satisfy either of the previously stated goals.

Ran: At the least, she didn't want to enter the gym, so her intent with putting the body there probably had little to do with whether she wanted to hide or reveal the body.

Ran: This question's a bit complicated. There seems to be more than one answer that fits the conditions.

Ann: What does that mean?

Ran: To be more precise about it, the culprit's choice to strangle Tama seems like it could achieve multiple goals; I'm not sure a single answer can encapsulate all of these goals.

Ann: I see. So we should first figure out all the potential benefits that strangling Tama could have had for the culprit, and then re-analyze those, to create a clear chain of logic, right?

Ran: Correct, miss Sakura; you've summed up things accurately, as expected. Let's begin, then.

Prevent Tama from struggling during the murder

The culprit tried to kill Tama via strangulation, but failed

The culprit needed time to prepare the murder weapon

The culprit was trying to frame other students who had the strength necessary to choke Tama out

The culprit needed to create a false alibi for themselves

Ran: I mean, we know what the murder weapon was, and it seems like it had to have been premeditated, you can't come up with a plan like this one off the top of your head.

Ran: But that creates the other issue of- well, you can't exactly be seen running around all day with a wrench big enough to clamp your own head. It'd be weird. Everyone knows what the pipe wrench is for, after all. I think the culprit probably saw that she had an opportunity, after Tama and I split up.

Ran: The culprit strangled Tama and then hid her, before going to find the murder weapon.

Ann: So you're saying that strangling Tama was to buy time for the culprit.

Ran: That's right. This also implies that the culprit probably strangled Tama with her own bare hands- because she was taking advantage of a spontaneous opportunity, and didn't immediately have something like rope on her.

Ran: Well, no shit, sherlock.

Ann: It's possible that she woke up in the middle of the act, though?

Ran: Very possible, though it'd have been too late by then.

Ran: Clearly not. If she really wanted to strangle Tama to death, she could have just choked her to the point of fainting, and then finished the job with some rope.

Ran: Or, hell, just used rope in the first place. The fact that she used rope to affix Tama to the tree later on clearly indicates that she had access to rope.

Ann: Maybe she choked Tama out, went to go look for rope, and came up with the more complicated murder method on the fly?

Ran: Very improbable. It's hard to make a method like this work without serious thought. And even if the murderer had a sudden flash of insight, it doesn't really affect our judgment either way.

Ann: Mm, you're right.

Ran: The culprit could have killed Tama immediately after choking her out, but the process would have taken some time, and there'd be a large amount of blood on the culprit that would have been difficult to clean.

Ran: Plus, she needed time to get her murder implement, and to clean up her bloodied clothes afterwards. Not to mention the risk of being witnessed.

Ann: So, after the culprit choked Tama out, appearing before the rest of us before going to kill Tama properly would be a very sensible choice.

Ran: And that's exactly what she did- and she expanded the pool of potential suspects in the process. A very effective act.

After it rained

Before it rained

Before the power room repairs were completed

Ran: Incorrect. The traces of moisture on Tama's body are very clear. It must have happened after it'd rained, because Tama's body shows signs of exposure to the rain. Despite this, however, her feet are very clear; this could only have been because she'd already been dead by the time it started raining, so she could no longer walk with her own feet.

Ann: Did the culprit make an oversight? Everyone knows that it rains a lot these days. If she'd prepared rain-avoidance equipment, or if she'd smothered mud on Tama's shoes, she could have really messed with us.

Ran: It wouldn't have made a big difference either way, because the important thing isn't if Tama was alive while she was getting railed on, it was whether she was even outside at all while it was raining.

Ran: Tama had an umbrella with her, after all. Logically speaking, you wouldn't expect her to get so completely drenched. It's very strange that Tama was outside with an umbrella while it's raining.

Ran: But the killer's lack of preparation against inclement weather is indeed strange. This suggests that it's possible that she didn't begin committing the murder during the rain, but rather that it suddenly began to rain during the process of the murder.

Ann: Right. And it must have happened during the process of killing Tama. By the time the culprit moved Tama's body, the rain had already been falling for some time. Otherwise, if the rain was only happening while the corpse was being moved, the culprit could have just covered the body with a tarp to block the rainwater.

Ran: Yeah, if she'd prepared a tarp beforehand, and wrapped it on Tama before she began, whether it rained or not, the bloodstains wouldn't have looked the way that they look now.

Ann: Well, from the culprit's method, she couldn't have covered Tama's head with the tarp as well, otherwise she couldn't have turned Tama's head, and then the rain would have gotten on Tama's hair and the whole thing would have been pointless.

Ran: In conclusion, the culprit was the person who was still outside when it began raining.

Ran: Once we've excluded all other possibilities, that leaves only her.

Ran: Finally, whether or not an accomplice exists is no longer a meaningful question.

Ran: We've already figured out the identity of the culprit, and the only person who could have possibly been her accomplice has already been eliminated by way of recollections.

Ann: Are you really going to be able to convince the murderer using evidence you got through a recall, though?

Ann: That time you revived me, it was Miho helping you out of a jam, wasn't it.

Ran: This time it'll be different. The culprit won't actively bring up the idea of an accomplice on their own; if they do, they'd be implicating themselves as the culprit.

Ann: So, we've solved all the problems up to this point, then?

Ran: Mhm. But if the culprit is her, then I don't want the others to know, yet. I want to have a talk with her, alone.

Ann: Ran, that's so dangerous. What if she kills you.

Ran: It's fine! I'll just let her know that miss Sakura also knows who the culprit is.

Ann: I still feel like we should go see her together.

Ran: (Normally I'd be ecstatic to go anywhere together with miss Sakura, of course. But this time... compared to the how, I'm really more curious about the why. I want to know the culprit's motive.)

Ran: (Maybe it'll even help me restore some of my memories. I still don't want miss Sakura to know about that, yet.)

Ran: No, we're not going together, if we go together and then we both get killed then we're all going to be in a huge pickle. There's going to be three times the case to solve if that happens.

Ran: (We know she's up for it. I got killed by her in the recollection, after all.)

Ann: Alright, then. Be careful, okay?

Ran: Mhm! Don't worry, miss Sakura, I told you that I'd never leave you ever again.

Makoto: Ibuki-san, calling me to come here alone... I don't suppose you're expecting me to carry a conversation with Tama all on my own?

Ran: I know who the culprit is.

Makoto: And calling me here alone... you think it's me, then?

Ran: I'd rather not say, yet. I'm afraid that Tama'll wake up if I do, and there's somethings I want to say that I don't want her to hear.

The edges of Makoto's eyes dipped, a bit. Her sharp gaze made Ran worried that Makoto might actually decide to kill her.

Makoto: How kind of you. Though I don't particularly want her to revive either.

Ran: ...By the way, just so you know, miss Sakura also knows the identity of the culprit.

Makoto laughed.

Makoto: Don't worry! I'm not going to kill you.

Ran: (Pretty sure you caved in my skull in that recall sequence, but, sure, whatever.)

Ran: Well, no point in wasting more time. I'm going to begin describing the murderer's process now.

Ran: First off, the complexity of this method means that it was clearly a premeditated murder.

Ran: The nature of the murder meant that the culprit was waiting for one specific circumstance- when Tama Indou was alone.

Ran: Yesterday, after Tama separated from me, she sent the culprit a text message saying that she was going to visit her-

Makoto: C'mon, you can stop with the 'culprit' thing, you're clearly gunning for me.

Ran: Hey, I haven't said so yet.

Ran: After the culprit received the text, she thought that this was a valuable opportunity, so she met up with Tama at the power room.

Ran: There, the culprit strangled her until she fainted.

Ran: If the culprit just needed time to get the murder weapon, she could have made preparations before Tama arrived.

Ran: Since, based on Tama's personality, she wouldn't leave the site until she'd met up with the culprit.

Makoto: How careless of this supposed culprit. What if Tama had woken up and started making a ruckus in the spare parts closet?

Ran: Were you really worried about that, Makoto?

Makoto: ...

Makoto: Hey, how come you stopped drawing at this scene?

Ran: Because I don't want to draw it.

Ran: And it's just the two of us, and between the two of us, we both know how it went down.

Makoto: How unprofessional.

Makoto: How do you know such a tarp exists?

Ran: I saw the missing tarp from the power room closet, Makoto. Someone clearly took one of the tarps, and it was clearly y- the culprit. The pile of tarps was dusty on all sides but the top. Only one way to explain that.

Ran: The dust patterns in that room were strange too. The walls and floor were clean, but the shelves were dusty. I suppose the culprit must have cleaned up the room after placing Tama in the room left distinct marks that could have been used to deduce that Tama had once been placed in that room.

Makoto: Wow, real master detective stuff going on here.

Makoto: So let me guess- the premises upon which your reasoning is founded, are the presumed height of the culprit, and the suspects who were still outside while it was raining?

Makoto: What a sloppy job by the culprit. Well, you guessed right, the culprit was m-

Ran: No, wait, hold on. As long as I don't identify the culprit, even if the culprit admits it, Tama won't come back to life, will she.

Makoto raised one eyebrow.

Makoto: No, she won't. Because it will count as you not actually knowing who the suspects that fit your original premises are.

Ran: That's good, then. Even if we revived Tama now, that still doesn't solve the problem.

Makoto: So what if the culprit had a great relationship with her? Do you think that a good relationship would prevent the culprit from committing the crime? Rather, wouldn't you think that the culprit would exploit their relationship to make it seem like she could never have done such a thing to Tama?

Makoto: This method was chosen entirely out of the hopes that it'd make the investigation more difficult to solve.

Makoto was talking very quickly, all of a sudden. Ran didn't even need to contemplate her speech to notice that she was clearly extremely stressed.

Ran: I'd have liked to believe that too.

Ran: But the truth is that the culprit did this out of hatred. She chose this method because she wanted Tama to suffer.

Ran: After Tama learned who the culprit was, she'd surely cooperate with the culprit as best as she could to ensure that her plan could go off, right?

Ran: And before all this, I also believed that, were the culprit in the same situation as Tama, she'd also collaborate with Tama. But the way that the culprit planned for Tama to die was just too horrifying.

Ran: In Tama's heart, the culprit was someone very important to her- you could even say that she was one of her reasons for existence. And she had no doubt about this fact, and was happy to live this way.

Ran: So, the culprit was to Tama, as miss Sakura is to me- and so I'm astonished that the culprit would choose to apply such a process to Tama.

Makoto: So, according to you, whenever anybody decides to commit a murder and then split up the parts of the body afterwards, that's all because they hate their classmates? Can't the culprit just emotionlessly decide to wring Tama's neck? Is that so impossible?

Ran: Sure, it's possible. But, Asakura, is that actually what you were thinking?

Ran: After Tama revives, wouldn't the culprit keep trying to use the same cruel method to kill Tama?

Ran: Even if the designated victim wasn't Tama, the culprit would still kill her anyways, using her nature as a witness to the crime to justify it?

Makoto narrowed her eyes. Her brows were furrowed, and her hands stuck into her jacket pockets.

Makoto: I don't see why we're discussing such a pointless topic. This is all intuition. You like deduction so much, why don't you show me some proof that I hate Tama, and force a confession out of me, then?

Ran: This is about interpersonal emotions, not something that can be explained entirely through logic. But...

Ran looked down at the white cloth covering Tama, and then looked back up at Makoto.

Ran: Sai once said that, you once decided to commit suicide after you drew both the culprit and victim cards.

Makoto's hands had balled themselves up into fists, in her pockets.

Ran: And, the person to reason out your process of committing suicide, and who revived you, was Tama.

Ran: And I'm guessing she completely reasonably decided to blame herself for your choice to commit suicide.

Ran: Even though, under the condition that you could be revived, you decided to give up your own life.

Ran: But Tama thought that, if she satisfied you enough, that you would choose to kill one of the other classmates, rather than commit suicide.

Ran: And, after that, her goodwill towards you intensified and redoubled in magnitude, and because of this, you grew tired of Tama Indou- and even began to hate her.

Makoto was suddenly standing over Ran, looming over Ran. Ran hadn't even noticed when she'd gotten so close.

Makoto: And all of this- you intuited as well?

Ran reached out and grabbed Makoto by her shirt collar.

Ran: But I intuited right, didn't I? What does Tama Indou mean, to you?

Makoto grabbed Ran's arm by the wrist, and forced it away from her shirt collar.

Makoto: Nothing, that's what. A total nuisance.

Makoto: Tama Indou forces me to keep on living. I couldn't find any reason to keep existing in this world, so I chose to leave, but she dragged me back against my will anyways.

Makoto: And now I have to endure the pain of continued existence, and be forced to accept the way she looks at me so enthusiastically, so...

Makoto: So I turned her head around, so she would stop looking at me like that.

Ran: So you're blaming all of this on-

Ran: (What, now? What even was the trigger?)

Ran: Asakura...

Ran: Was it suicide? Makoto, did you-

Ran grabbed tightly to Makoto's arm. The storms of pain roiling through her mind were telling her that, indeed- her guess was inerrant.

Ran: (So, Makoto, you're already...)

On January 17th, 2020, at 6:18 in the afternoon, a female third-year student, from Tokyo Jogakkan Senior High School, standing in the middle of Shibuya Crossing, used a twenty-centimeter-long steel grocery knife to commit suicide by opening her own carotid artery.

At the time, the number of people who were crossing the street was in excess of 3000 people. Countless cellphone cameras recorded the entire process of the girl's slow death from exsanguination.

Ultimately, when paramedic personnel were finally able to reach the scene, the student had already perished.

The recordings were shared all across the internet. Rumors about the deceased student became a hot topic for a time, and the personal details of the deceased, which were meant to be kept secret, became publicly available information.

Between the overanalysis of the media, the clickbait platforms which thrived on blood and spectacle, and conversation undertaken by casual bystanders who stood outside the situation, everyone was speculating on her reasonsfor committing suicide.

And to those who knew her- her family, her classmates, and her friends-, Makoto Asakura was, more or less, a perfect girl.

If it could be said that the motive of the suicidal was despair, and that continued existence was just self-torture, then Makoto Asakura's life, in the eyes of others, could be described as nothing short of an idyllic existence.

Everyone thought that Makoto Asakura's life was one worthy of continuation- and yet she had actively chosen to abandon it.

The way that Makoto Asakura's values differed so much from others caused Ran Ibuki to perceive that the two of them shared a similar kind of isolation.

And, as for Makoto Asakura herself, she'd been contemplating the decision to commit suicide for quite a long time. She worked quite hard to find a reason not to die.

So she asked others what the purpose of living was. Most of the answers she received were some variant on consumerist hedonism, or maybe setting some kind of lofty life-goal for herself.

But she was unable to feel any meaning in any of them.

She was lacking in any sort of religious or spiritual faith, and neither relied on nor was relied on by anyone. Living for the sake of her family or her friends wasn't enough to justify her continuation.

Makoto never expressed what she was really thinking, deep down. There was no meaning in letting others know about her inner nihilism. Similarly, there was no meaning in pointing out the pointlessness of the actions of others, either.

Finally, on that day, Makoto Asakura had been sent by her family to pick up a custom-made knife by some relatives in Shibuya, and while traveling through the Shibuya Crossing, she happened to look up and see, on the giant LED screens, a livestream of some famous chef making sashimi.

When the camera fixed itself upon the fish's head, the giant eye of the fish, blindly and unfocusedly staring out into space, had an unexpectedly provocative effect on Makoto's heart, and so she took out the knife and cut her own neck.

Ran felt like she and Makoto were on the same road; Makoto had simply reached the end sooner than Ran.

Because of this, Ran decided that she would assume that the incompatibility between her values and that of the people around her was just a constant of life, and redoubled her efforts to sink deeper into Ann's embrace with even more determination.

Ann Sakura's existence allowed Ran Ibuki to believe, with certainty, that Ran Ibuki would never take the same road as Makoto Asakura.

the entry on makoto asakura has been updated YEAH I SURE BET IT HAS!!!

Makoto Asakura's parents invested a large amount of money into the Tokyo Gokakkan, with the intention of making it a high-school to rival the Ochabi Institute. Makoto Asakura, who was studying in high school at the time, also attracted everyone's gaze, with her perfect behavior and demeanor to answer all the expectations laid upon her. For this reason, after her suicide, nobody knew what motivated her to seek death.

Makoto's story ultimately became endlessly exaggerated in the retelling, until it birthed the urban legend known as the "Philosopher of Despair".

Ran: (Just like the situation with Koizumi-sensei, I already knew about Makoto, and she's even already died?)

Ran: (But she's not only just perfectly alive here, I even saw a lot of things in those memories that were things that only Makoto herself ought to know.

Ran: (Just who is it that's showing me these things? And with Makoto herself being here, those memories must be the truth, right.)

Ran: ...Just had a bit of headache. Everything's fine now. Please continue speaking.

Makoto: I don't have anything more to say.

Ran: I think you should give yourself and Indou a chance. She can give you the meaning you want.

Ran: (Is there even a point? The two of them are already long dead, aren't they?)

Ran: You say you hate the way she looks at you, but Indou's gaze can't be the same as that of a fish, right.

Ran: (What am I even doing? There's no way that Asakura's destiny of suicide can be changed, just like how it doesn't matter how much resolve Koizumi-sensei builds up for herself.)

Makoto: A- what? A fish?

Makoto: Also, the more positive things you say about Tama Indou, the less it makes me ever want to see her again.

Makoto: She has everything that I wish I had. Tama Indou lives in excitement and discovery of the new every single day, she enjoys the pleasures of just being alive every single day, and she even has the temerity to try to share these things with me, and she's even somehow found the meaning of life off of me.

Makoto was speaking faster and faster, and her breathing was becoming more and more rapid.

Makoto: Even after I killed myself so I could escape her torment, she still brought me back to life.

Ran: She just wants to share the things that make her happy, to make you happy as well, doesn't she?

Makoto: I suppose there was a certain period where I was contemplating how to make Tama Indou die as painfully as possible. In that sense I suppose I found a life-goal, for a while.

Makoto: Look, I know what kind of person Tama Indou is, in you all's eyes. But in mine, every single move and action she makes is filled with nothing but the most absolute malevolence towards me.

Ran: Have you tried telling her these things?

Makoto: Do you think Tama would understand my feelings?

Ran: That's not the point. Look, if you're sick of breathing and want to take a hike, I'm not going to stop you, but I'm not just going to let you drag Tama down with you.

Makoto did not answer Ran.

Ran: Now that you've vented yourself on Tama, once she comes back, have a proper conversation with her, alright? At least apologize to her. I for one believe she'll take your frustrations seriously.

Ran: (And what would the point be, even if she does take them seriously? The two of them are already dead, there's no point to their relationship no matter how much it improves.)

Makoto laid her hands on the edge of the steel frame of the bed, and looked at Tama Indou's corpse. It was the first time she'd looked directly at Tama since Ran had called her to the morgue.

Makoto: I doubt it'll go the way you want it to. You know what what Tama's going to say to me as soon as she wakes up?

Ran: What?

Makoto walked towards the door of the morgue, and pushed it open.

Makoto: Why don't you listen in my stead.

Ran: Alright, then. The killer of Tama Indou was Makoto Asakura.

Makoto: I confess to being the culprit. Your reasoning was accurate.

After finishing that sentence, Makoto Asakura closed the door and left the morgue.

It was like watching a suspension bridge's steel cables arrange themselves in parallel- though the speed of the regeneration didn't seem as quick as with Ann's.

Her consciousness had been restored before her wounds had.

Even while the regeneration was still underway, tears flowed from Tama's eyes. She opened her mouth and tried to speak, but couldn't- her vocal cords were still in the process of regrowing themselves.

Ran: (Asakura better properly apologize to Tama, later.)

Ran could hear the sounds of regrowing flesh right next to her ears. Tama finally stopped screaming, and began heaving deep breaths. Her grasp on Ran's back relaxed slightly, but she still apparently had no intentions of letting go.

Ran: Tama, it's okay, you can grab me as tightly as you need to-

Tama was more than willing to accept Ran's invitation, and her fingers clutched tightly to Ran once again.

After a long, long time, the morgue fell silent, leaving only Tama's quiet gasps.

Ran: Does it still hurt?

Tama shook her head, let her hands go, and leaned back slightly. Ran didn't immediately let her go, and continued supporting Tama in her lap.

Tama: ...It's much better. Thank you, Ibuki-san.

Said Tama with pale, white lips.

Tama: Where's Asakura-san? You pointed her out as the culprit here, didn't you?

Ran: She left.

Tama: Oh, no. She must be mad at me. I have to go and apologize to her, quickly.

Tama immediately began struggling in Ran's lap, trying to stand up, but Ran pushed her right back down.

Ran: The fuck do you mean, apologize? The way Asakura treated you, she should be the one apologizing to you.

Tama: Absolutely not! Asakura-san can do anything she likes to me, but when she was twisting my head, I surely made an unsightly expression, and even got blood on Asakura-san's face.

Tama was starting to cry again. She hadn't even seemed this tense even when her wounds were regenerating.

Tama: Asakura-san must be feeling quite unwell. I have to go and apologize quickly to her.

Ran:...

Ran: You really mustn't apologize to her.

Tama: But...

Ran: (No wonder Asakura doesn't want to see Tama's face. If Tama showed up and immediately started apologizing to Asakura, I bet she'd start vomiting blood from her sheer loathing.)

Ran: Look, if you apologize, you're going to put Asakura in a lot of pain. What you need to do right now is to go up to her, point your finger at her face, and start screaming at her, 'how could you do something like that to me?!', something like that.

Ran: And then maybe ignore her for a day or two. That'll probably please her the most.

Tama: Why? I don't get it...

Ran: Just- take my word for it, Asakura told me that was what she wanted while you were dead. She wanted you to do those things.

Tama, suspicious: ...Did Asakura-san really say that?

Ran nodded her head with as much confidence as she could.

Tama: Very well, I understand. Since it's something that Asakura-san told me to do, then I'll do as she says.

Tama picked herself off the ground and dusted off her hospital gown.

Tama: And, if after I say that, Asakura-san gets mad at me, then, um, I shouldn't say just what I'll do to you, Ibuki-san...

Ran: (NOPE NOPE NOPE Tama you are way too scary for me.)

Ran: T-trust me! Asakura isn't the kind of smallhearted person to get so worked up over something like this! It'll go fine!

Tama: ...Do I really have the right to do something like scream at Asakura-san, though?

Ran: It's because you're like this that Asakura hopes that you can change yourself. Surely you understand, as well; having an inferiority complex isn't a good thing.

Tama jumped in shock a little, even though, frankly, it was completely obvious to everybody, including Ran.

Tama: Okay, I understand, I'll try it, then.