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Hadzuki’s secondary residence is only slightly larger than a standard house. However, the security is perfect. I don’t see any people stationed outside, but they’re probably somewhere they can quickly mobilize from.

“Sorry for asking such an unreasonable request.”
“I’m personally more curious about why you want to learn about this incident.”

There’s a certain thing I’m curious about. Both me and Kotone. Is there someone behind this or not? There was a limit to how much I could investigate on my own. That’s why I had to rely on Hadzuki.

“He was… someone who helped me out in the past.”
“It wasn’t too complicated, so I’m not really complaining.”

I believed Hadzuki would be the best for information gathering. If it was the other families, people might find it suspicious. Just to say, I do trust him. And this really shouldn’t be usable as blackmail material.

“Still, why are you back here so early?”
“It’s just exhausting to be at home. Even if I only had to greet the guests, there were a lot of them.”

I know a lot of people went to their home to give their greetings. Since it’s the same as with the Kisaragi family. Kotone has barely ever greeted guests, so I can’t really relate to the exhaustion.

“Here, these are the files.”

Guided to the living room, I was given a file placed on top of the table. It’s not that thick, so I can guess that it’s not that complicated of a case. I guess I was just over-imaginative.

“Homicide by poison. The suspect was immediately caught because he was there. There were multiple witnesses. The suspect admitted to the crime but showed no signs of remorse.”
“To put it crudely, it’s a common type of crime.”

I wasn’t the only one on overtime. The final accounting period was nearing, so the whole company was busy that day. A coworker handing out snacks wouldn’t look suspicious in that situation. No one could have known what was running through his mind.

“There’s barely anything on his background. He planned and carried out the crime alone.”
“Did you expect there to be someone behind him?”
“My father, I guess.”
“That’s improbable.”

I agree. I was deluding myself when I thought of it. Thinking about it more, I really should have known that Kotone’s father has no relation to this. Even Hadzuki knew it immediately.

“Yeah, there’s no pros in doing this, only a lot of cons.”
“I don’t think he’s so destructive as to kill a man who had an involvement with his daughter.”

The only connection I had with the Kisaragi family’s daughter was a one-night encounter. I can’t imagine a father as indifferent to his family as he is to be bothered with something that minor. And most of all, why would he do it years after that chance meeting? The more I think about it, the more flaws I see.

“Fumidzuki would probably do it, though.”
“That father probably would. But the mother would stop it at all costs.”

If there was any man who spent a night with his daughter, Kotori’s father would probably kidnap him without a second thought. I can easily imagine him interrogating and torturing the man for what he wants to do with Kotori until he no longer breathes. Is that family really okay?

“It says here that the suspect obtained the poison on the internet, is it really that easy to get poison?”
“As long as you have enough money, you can get about anything you want.”

Well, I won’t deny that. I remember only eating a single mouthful, one healthy bite. Just recalling it makes my stomach turn. Still, is it really that easy to get a poison that can kill with a small dose?

“Apparently, the one who sold the poison was from a medical company. Probably acquired it from there too.”
“From Kouenji, huh.”
“Uwah, I felt like I just stepped on a landmine.”

I’m well-aware that I have a terrible mood and expression right now. The person who sold the poison worked directly under the Kouenji’s group. That darn hag is even connected to my cause of death. I seriously want to cut ties. After I get to punch her.

“I’ve been wondering about it for a while now, but why are you so easy to anger when it comes to Kouenji?”
“I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s something similar to a disease.”

A disease that won’t be cured for the rest of my life, that is. Since that hag married into a family with medical connections, the chances of her having long since dropped dead are low. That could be fixed with murder disguised as an accident, but even I don’t intend to go that far.

“The murder of Okita Souji has already been resolved. There’s nothing else that should warrant your attention.”
“From this document, it was perpetrated by only one individual. The perpetrator killed himself in prison. The poison dealer has already been arrested. There really is nothing else I can do.”

It’s likely why step-mom and Isami had a heavy air of frustration when we met. The one they resented was no longer in this world. Hating the one who supplied the poison would be misdirected. There was no one they could take their anger against, which only made them worse. Still, I felt like my reappearing as Kotone resolved everything.

“It didn’t make me feel any better about it, but I finally got my answers.”
“It’s the death report of someone who helped you, after all. Of course, it wouldn’t feel good.”

There’s no way learning about the cause of your own death could feel pleasant. Even though I’m only reading it from the files, it made me feel uncomfortable. It’s proof of my death. I thought reading this would help me draw a line in the sand, but I don’t feel like I had any change in mentality.

“Yeah. I’ve already given up from the start.”
“I don’t know the circumstances, but did you get what you wanted?”
“I think. Sorry for all the trouble.”

It’s not as if I haven’t accepted my own death. I resolved myself to live on as Kotone from day one, after all. Still, I do have some lingering regrets. I thought about resolving them at first, but it doesn’t matter now. After all, the past will come bugging me whether I like it or not.

“Now then, as a reward, could you tell me what you were up to during the last three days?”
“Are you really fine with just that?”
“Nothing’s more important than entertainment, you see.”

I’d rather you don’t treat my life as entertainment. I don’t believe this to be nearly enough to balance out my debt. I have no idea how he gathered this information, but he might have used some pretty gray methods.

“It’s going to be a long story.”
“That’s fine. You still have a lot of time left, right?”

I plan on returning home around evening time. And I’ve already informed mom about it. She’d get really worried otherwise. Wasn’t her original plan to leave Kotone struggling by herself so she’d mature?

“On the first day, I shook off the security and headed to the Shimotsuki family.”
“Going there on New Year is quite reckless if you ask me.”
“I immediately regretted it. Who could have imagined that they’d force me to join a live concert.”

Talking about the three days preceding my arrival here, time quickly flew by. Hadzuki would occasionally interrupt and comment, resulting in some halts to our progress. Naturally, we had snacks and tea on the side.

“Kotone, you seem to have made one little misunderstanding.”
“What?”
“Do you seriously think that nothing happened during your night at the Fumidzuki residence?”

I blocked the only door, so there’s no room for any doubt. It’s impossible for anyone to enter, and even if they manage to move my obstruction and enter, I’d notice all the noise. I really don’t recall anything that could have been done to me.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was something hidden in the Fumidzuki’s guest room. Like a camera or some wiretap device.”
“No, it can’t be.”
“That Kotori would definitely do it if you ask me.”

Sorry, Kotori. I can’t deny Hadzuki’s words. Rather, this only strengthened my doubts towards Kotori. So in other words, the reason why she was up all night wasn’t that she was doing some photo editing or compilation, but because she was looking at me while I slept.

“Now it makes sense why she was quick to give up on sleeping with me.”
“Since you didn’t want to sleep with her, she probably thought watching you was a good enough alternative.”
“And even if I try to question her about this, I don’t have any evidence.”
“It would have been different if you managed to find a camera, though. But I’m sure they recovered it immediately after you left your room.”

Twelve families, you’re so scary. When they go all out, they’re willing to invest ridiculous amounts of money, materials, and manpower to achieve what they want. Anticipating and preventing this is absolutely impossible. Your only option is to surrender and accept reality.

“They really are troublesome to have as enemies.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you. You’re also one of the twelve families and capable of doing just as much.”

I don’t consider myself to be special. My outward appearance and my mind are mismatched. Kotone’s physicality is the only part of her talents I can demonstrate. Meanwhile, Kotone’s current mental capabilities should lean more on mine. My abilities did gain a boost thanks to Kotone, though.

“Sorry, I have a call coming in.”
“No worries, feel free~”

It’s from Akira. I somehow have a bad feeling about this, but it’s best I take the call. I didn’t believe nothing would happen on the last day to begin with.

“Kotone, it’s a disaster!”
“What’s the problem?”
“A person who looks like you was kidnapped!”

I can feel my face tense up. Seeing this, Hadzuki shows me a wide grin. The kidnappers were likely the hostile security group. As for the one they kidnapped, I also have an idea who.

“I’ll call the chief to make countermeasures.”
“What!? Do you plan on making this worse!? Say something!”

I ended the call without replying. After all, this already can’t get any worse. They finally made a move. I chose the chief’s number from the contacts and called him. He immediately picked it up, maybe he already got the news?

“Kotone. I heard the report. What’s your opinion?”
“The rogues’ den has taken action.”

Now then, it’s time for the rogue’s den capture operation to begin.