pulled a few strings on her behalf. From an even more practical standpoint, it was also not difficult to imagine who was the real source of the money deposited in Misora’s bank account by a company she’d never heard of before.
On September 1st, she left her house on foot, headed for the nearest subway station. When she reached her office, her superior would return her badge, her gun, and her handcuffs. The thought was a little embarrassing, and she felt a few butterflies in her stomach, but when it was over she would be back to her old life.
She had spoken to L only once after the killer was arrested. He thanked her for helping to solve the case, and told her just a little about the background of the case. That B had been a candidate to succeed L, and that the pressure of that had driven him off track. At last she felt that she could understand Ryuzaki’s previously incomprehensible actions, but she also felt like she only imagined that she could. It all boiled down to the entire case being a challenge for L and he had killed people, and tried to kill himself, for that alone... but while murders could be dismissed as simple madness, committing suicide for such a stupid reason could not. Before he became like that, if only someone had stopped him... but that just shows ho intent he was on his purpose. His own life was as meaningless as the lives of his victims, nothing but a tool in Beyond Birthday’s quest t surpass L. It mattered more to him than his own life. Perhaps he was less intent than desperate. Nobody could have stopped him.
That was his resolve.
Which made him... so very strong. Had he really been strong?
Misora wondered, remembering how he had nervously chewed his thumbnail. Strength.
Strength Misora could never hope to imitate...
The station entrance had just come into view, and standing in front of it was an awkward, uncomfortable-looking man.
A young man, with an intense expression.
There were lines under his eyes so dark she wondered if they were actually done with makeup. Like he hadn’t slept in days—or like he had never slept in his life. Like his sense of justice would not allow
him time to sleep, since he had so many difficult cases to think about, battling unfathomable pressure on a daily basis.
He wore a long-sleeved white shirt and blue jeans.
His bare feet were crammed directly into beaten sneakers. She had a strange sense of déjà vu. Like she’d seen him or met him once before.
There was something about him that reminded her of Rue Ryuzaki—of Beyond Birthday. But the resemblance was backward, like this was the original, and the other had been a copy.
“Um, have we...?” she asked, even though he was hardly blocking the entrance bodily, and she could have simply ignored him and walked on inside.
The young man instantly leapt at her.
Leapt at her? No, that’s not right. He actually tried to throw his arms around her. “Huh?! No!”
Misora instantly bent backward, brushing off the man’s embrace, and moved smoothly on to the offensive. She lowered her upper body backward, spinning once in the air and raising her back legs like a scorpion, slamming both heels down onto the man’s shoulders. Both blows hit hard, and the impact knocked him off balance.
With a thunderous crash, he tumbled down the subway stairs. Whoops. A little overboard.
Certainly, he had assaulted her, but Misora quickly righted her- self and ran down after him. “Are you okay?” she asked.
He was lying on his stomach like a crushed frog.
“I see,” he muttered, seemingly talking to himself. “Watching videos and seeing it for real is quite different, but now I think I understand.”
“Hunh?”
Thank you so much for uploading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
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