The Last Resort
4/15/16
April 15th. The day Shiho Suzui in Yuki’s original timeline as Ren Amamiya tried to commit suicide. Yuki hoped that this time, Yuki would be able to prevent her from taking the leap this time around. Considering all the discrepancies this timeline has already shown her, if Yuki didn’t actually stop her this time around, Shiho could very well potentially die. If that were to happen… she would have no idea what she would do.
The case where Kamoshida should atone for his sins would fall apart; she’d have a hard time not justifying the fact that he should die.
Unfortunately, she remembered that Mr. Ushimaru was teaching the class when it all happened. She grimaced; it would be hard finding an excuse to get out of class for a little bit, but she had to try. She got prepared for school; everything hinged on her intervention.
School almost seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace, but as Yuki marked the time, it eventually almost reached that moment.
Mr. Ushimaru had just taken over the class for Japanese History.
Yuki raised her hand. “Mr. Ushimaru. I have to go to the bathroom.”
Mr. Ushimaru stopped and turned around to look at her. She couldn’t tell what was going on in his mind. She was hoping he would not yell at her for interrupting him.
What he did was surprising. He only grumbled. “Women… and all their fondness for hygiene… Amamiya-san, go.”
Yuki just nods and rushes out of there. Now, she needed to pretend she was going to the bathroom. She looked around. Shiho Suzui wasn’t anywhere in sight. She checked the time. It was only a couple of minutes before the actual sighting. She rushed to the bathroom and splashed water on her face, preparing for what is to come.
She headed out, refreshed. She turned out of the restroom entrance to find a black ponytail flashing before her.
Yuki paled; that could be Shiho. The person wasn’t running but seemed to be walking with purpose.
She speed-walked to the roof, hoping to not draw any attention. As she neared the roof access door, she was increasingly filled with more and more dread.
Her hand closed around the knob. Breathing in and out, she turned it.
Shiho Suzui was about to climb on top of the ledge, but she heard Yuki open the roof access door. “Who’s there? Don’t try to stop me!” She craned her neck around. “Amamiya-san? Have you come to stop me?”
Yuki took it slow. “Suzui-san. It’s a nice day outside. I’m sure Ann must be waiting to hang out with you again.”
Shiho shook her head. “It may be a nice day, but I’m having an absolutely terrible day.”
Yuki took small, measured steps forward. “So, share it with me. Share it with Ann and Ryuji. Ryuji’s part of the Student Council; he can definitely do something to help. Mishima is a nice guy; all of us want to help you, Shiho.”
Shiho is frantic. She climbs on top of the ledge. “You don’t understand! Nobody can do anything to help me when it’s already over and done! Mr. Kamoshida… he… he… he… raped me. I wanted to talk to him so I could say that I quit the volleyball team because of him, but on my way out, he… restrained me. He tied me up and… violated me. I feel… disgusted… not also at him, but by myself. I let him do this to me… why should I still even be alive?”
Yuki grimaced but continued pressing forward. By now people must have seen her on top of the ledge. “You’re wrong… you didn’t let him take advantage of you; he used his position and his strength to force you. You shouldn’t feel ashamed because you have no reason to; Ryuji and I are gathering evidence and allies to make sure that Kamoshida will pay for whatever he did to you. Your parents…”
Shiho laughed in a rather demented manner. “My parents!? Don’t talk to me about them. They’re the ones who practically forced me to pursue volleyball under him. Even when I came home covered in bruises and welts, they normalized and rationalized it as if it was nothing! I almost wanted to tell them the truth when they got home yesterday, but they would have been apologists, covering for Mr. Kamoshida!”
Yuki took several steps forward. Shiho didn’t seem to care about it. “What about Ann? She’s your best friend. She would be absolutely devastated if she saw you fall over the edge. Don’t make this hard on her; she is your friend and she will do everything it takes to help you. Ryuji, Mishima, and I are all on this together as well.”
At this point, Yuki was only a foot away from her. Shiho shook her head as she stepped back. “No… it’s all over. Everyone will call me a slut, a whore; they’ll say I deserve what was coming to me.”
Yuki shook her head. “Don’t pay attention to them; pay attention to the people who care about you, your friends. We will be there for you as you go through this.”
Shiho stepped back, but unfortunately, her foot only stepped on air. She resigns herself to fall backward. Yuki lunges forward; it was only pure luck that Yuki managed to grab on to Shiho’s right hand.
That being said, Yuki lacked the core upper strength for her to hold onto Shiho’s right hand for long.
Shiho yelled at her, “Why can’t you let me go? I want to die. I can’t stand my life anymore! Let me die!”
Yuki is finding it very difficult to maintain her calm composure. “Do you think I would want to watch you die? Allowing you to die would terrify and sadden me; you’re one of the few people who accepted me for who I am, and I’m not letting a friend like you do something that reckless!”
Yuki groans. My hand is slipping; I won’t be able to hang on to her any longer.
Just then she heard the roof access door blast open. In a flash, Ryuji knelt beside her, reinforcing her hold of Shiho’s hand. “Where were you!?”
Ryuji replies, “Later! Now, on the count of 3, let’s pull her up. 1, 2, … now pull!!!”
Yuki mustered all of her strength as she and Ryuji pull Shiho up over the edge and over the ledge to the rooftop ground. Both of them heaved as Shiho trembles, aware that her suicide attempt had been unsuccessful.
While Yuki was looking over, she saw students piling the hallways and the ground below, taking pictures and using their phones predictably to send SNS messages. She despised that kind of behavior.
Ann emerged onto the rooftop, panting. “Shiho!”
Shiho only looks down and cries, “Ann…”
Ann runs over to her side. “Oh, Shiho… you can trust me. I can help you. We can help you.”
Shiho cries and blubbers, “I...I… know that. Yuki told me.”
Ann looks over at Yuki, who is still recovering from that exercise. It is unfortunate for her that she is not cut out for physical exertion despite being an idol. She lacked lifting heavier objects.
Ann painfully sighs. “I’m sorry… I judged you for being some pretty snot-faced girl who popped out of nowhere to steal Ryuji… but clearly…” She evidently has a hard time saying it, but she managed to push it out. “You aren’t a bad person, judging by what you did. I’m sorry for acting horribly to you.”
Yuki nods her head. “It’s alright. As long as you apologized in the end, everything’s good.”She was glad that Ann made that apology; it showed that Ann was truly irrespective of timeline a good person at heart when it really came down to it.
Just then the teachers burst onto the roof, Principal Kobayakawa leading the pack. Yuki idly noted that Kamoshida was not among them. He halted to a stop, face all sweaty and red. From anger or self-awareness, she did not know. “What!? Explain yourselves!!”
Shiho hides her face. Yuki dusted her legs and stood up. “I apologize. Truth be told, I saw Shiho Suzui rush up here on my way back from the restroom. I followed her and she headed up to the rooftop. By the time I got there, she was climbing up the wall. I tried to talk her down, but by the time I got close enough to prevent her, she stepped back and fell. I managed to grab onto her before she could fall out of my reach, but Sakamoto-san managed to get up here in the nick of time and helped me pull her up.”
Principal Kobayakawa digested all of that. What he said only disgusted Yuki. “Never mind the pretext! Why would Suzui-san do that!?”
Yuki looked at Shiho; Shiho had her face buried in Ann’s protective stance. It was obvious she was still rattled and broken by everything that happened over the previous day. It would be counterproductive for her to reveal what happened or for Shiho to be interrogated. “Suzui-san is still traumatized from the experience. Principal, Sir, I don’t think it’s the teachers’ or my place to ask her what happened. Can someone call emergency services?”
Ryuji nods. “I happened to do so on my way here. They’ll be here soon to escort her to the hospital.”
Yuki looks at Ann. “Are you okay with escorting Shiho there and looking after her?”
Ann, furious, only nods. “Count on me.”
Principal Kobayakawa sputters, “You can’t make the decisions; that’s up to the school to decide!”
Yuki sighs. “Sir, do you really think questioning her is going to achieve anything? If anything, you’ll only make her even more uncomfortable. Besides, the police and emergency services should handle everything else.”
Mr. Ushimaru’s voice rings out. “If I may, Principal Kobayakawa…”
Principal Kobayakawa snaps out. “What!?”
Mr. Ushimaru’s voice is firm. “Amamiya-san, is everything you said true to the last word?”
Yuki nods. “Yes. Sakamoto-san can testify for my character. As part of the Student Council, he should be capable to give an analysis of myself.”
Ryuji looks at her. “It’s true; Principal Kobayakawa made me her student guide; from the past few days, I have seen no reason to doubt her character or her words. She is who she makes herself out to be: a person who cares about others. If she followed Suzui-san, it would only be out of concern for Suzui.”
Mr. Ushimaru looked to the rest of the teachers. “I feel we can trust the two of them with their judgment on this case. Principal Kobayakawa, I second their recommendations as a member of the staff. It’s not our place to question Suzui-san; that matter should be left to the police.”
Principal Kobayakwa’s eyes bulged out. “What!?”
Ms. Kawakami also stepped forward. “I agree; her actions alone transcend our authority to investigate; the police should handle this. As for those two, I have seen only good behavior from the two of them, so I am inclined to believe their testimony. Also, Sakamoto-kun is the Acting Student Council President, so he is to be held to a higher standard of honesty and integrity, of which he has shown so far.”
The other teachers, seeing two of their own speak out, begin to pile on support. Principal Kobayakawa could only sigh in exasperation, his hand forced. “If it must turn out that way, so be it.”
They file out of the rooftop one by one. Ms. Kawakami was the last to leave. She looked at Yuki and Ryuji with something close to respect and relief before leaving.
Ryuji cleared his throat. “We should probably relocate to the Student Council room. No one would dare to step inside without my or the Student Council’s permission.”
He looks at Shiho. “Is it okay?”
Shiho nods. Ryuji stands up and slopes one of her arms against her shoulder. Good. It seems she can walk. Otherwise, Ryuji would have had to give her a piggyback.
They walked downwards to the 3rd floor. Students piled the corridors, murmuring about Shiho and Yuki. A few boys dog whistled at Yuki; she swatted those away. Piranhas, the lot of them.
It took a while, but they got to the 3rd floor Student Council room. Student Council members were already there. Ryuji introduced them as Ito-san and Mari-san, two colleagues of his in the Student Council.
Ryuji nodded at them. “Let us in. Don’t let anyone else.”
Just then Mishima rushed up. “Whew! Damn! Sakamoto-kun, I need to talk to you.”
Ryuji sighed. “Can’t it wait, Mishima?”
Mishima shook his head. He leans in and whispers into Ryuji’s ear. Yuki couldn’t hear, but it turned Ryuji’s face pale. Mishima leans back upright.
Ryuji nods. “He’s coming in with us.”
His coworkers in the Student Council, Ito-san and Mari-san, nod.
Ryuji, Ann, Mishima, Shiho, and Yuki enter the Student Council room. Ryuji lays Shiho down to rest on the futon. Upon touching it, she passes out.
Yuki could only look at her resting. It was predictable; considering everything that happened to her, she should rest.
Ann pulls up a chair to look over Shiho while Ryuji, Yuki, and Mishima took seats at the table.
Ryuji flexes his hands. “You said it could change everything, Mishima. Let’s hear it. You have my word that nobody will know who gave me the information. You can trust these two.” He motions to Ann and Yuki. “Ann deserves to know, and Yuki’s my partner.”
Mishima pulls out his phone and begins tapping. He lays it on the table. “I recorded this two days ago. Have a listen.”
He plays the clip. Kamoshida happens to be ranting about Shiho, explicitly stating his plans with her.
All three of them paled.
Mishima took the phone and pocketed it. “I’ll send a copy over to you. I’m going back to class.”
Ryuji held up a hand. “Wait. You recorded this. It wasn’t edited or manipulated or anything?”
Mishima huffed. “Of course I took it. It hasn’t even been touched since i stopped recording.”
Ryuji sighs. “I just wanted to make sure.” Ryuji hands Mishima his contact info, and Mishima sends a copy of the unaltered file to Ryuji before leaving the room.
Yuki looks at Ryuji. “This is our smoking gun. Kamoshida’s finished.”
They then heard Ann. “You’re telling me… that Kamoshida’s the one who… raped her? That’s why she… felt like she had to jump? That bastard!”
Yuki looks at Ryuji. “Please don’t tell me she’s going to do anything reckless.” She remembers Ryuji’s rampage in the previous timeline; it was odd to see Ryuji this calm; despite that, she could see his fists clench.”
Ryuji nods. “I plan to confront Mr. Kamoshida directly about this as part of the Student Council. I also intend to aid the police investigation by handing them this audio clip.”
Yuki looks at him. “Don’t you think it’s time to use that other place? Shiho could very well be the only one we know directly.”
Ryuji closes his eyes. “That… I hoped it wouldn’t come to this… but with Shiho’s attempted suicide… we have no choice. We have no idea how far it extends; the volleyball team is certainly impacted, and the female volleyball members have the most to lose by that monster’s hand.”
Ann’s voice interrupted them. “What are you guys talking about? You plan to do something to Mr. Kamoshida, aren’t you? I want to join too.”
Yuki could see Ann’s eyes flicker with rage and anger. She tries to defuse that. “Well, she heard us. Ann, yes. We are indeed planning something. However, we don’t intend to kill him, and your look right now isn’t convincing us to let you join. We intend to make him confess, not to kill him.” She doesn’t see Ann’s look change. She sighs. “I get it, Ryuji and I are just as outraged as you, but the answer isn’t killing him, it’s about making him atone for his crimes. We’ll only let you join as long as you can temper your rage and your bloodlust to make him pay with his life.”
Ann looks away, considering what Yuki said. “Fine. I’ll play along. As long as we avenge Shiho.”
Yuki nods. “That’s our plan, anyway.” She turns to Ryuji. “Also, I found someone else with the strange power of Persona, so they’ll be helping us.”
Ryuji nods. “The more help, the better. Those knights didn’t look like cakewalks to me.”
Yuki looks pained. “First, we should get Shiho to the hospital. Secondly, we should confront Mr. Kamoshida. I hope we can resolve this without making use of the MetaVerse. Finally, you two will need to awaken that power if confronting Mr. Kamoshida proves to be unfruitful, which I highly think will be the case.”
Ann raised a hand. “I keep hearing you say power and an alternate world. What power and what world?”
Ryuji elaborates. “Well, Takamaki-san, let me put it. It’s like your… will of rebellion, right?”
Yuki nods. “At least that’s how I interpret it. That power is what allows us to fight back in that other strange world. As for the world, think about Kamoshida’s interpretation of his reality. That’s how it looks; the school appears to be a castle for him. Additionally, he has perspectives of the people and the students of Shujin Academy; we could potentially see you or anyone from the school, but they’re not real. They’re convincing fakes, but that’s all they are, convincing fakes, or cognitions, I would like to more accurately depict them. They're fake replicas of us that Kamoshida believes to be the case.”
Ann looks over to Ryuji. “You already knew all of this?”
Ryuji holds up his hands. “First time hearing about all of that. The first time we went there, we were busy trying not to get killed.”
Yuki nods. “We’ll save the rest for later. Ryuji, let’s find Mr. Kamoshida. Where would he usually be?”
Ryuji nods. “He’s usually at his office in the Practice Building or in the gym. I’ll say that the former would be where we find him usually around this time.” He gets up. “We’re off. Ann, look after Shiho for us. I’ll direct the student council members to not let anyone else in except for police.”
They left the room. Ito and Mari were outside, fielding the crowd of students from swarming them. “Ito, Mari, I already informed 119 operators that paramedics should come here and take Suzui to the hospital. Don’t let anyone else in except for paramedics.”
Ito and Mari nod. “Understood, Sakamoto-san.”
Ryuji beckons to Yuki. “Let’s go find someone.”
He was right, Mr. Kamoshida was in his office. On the way, they bumped into Ms. Kawakami. She said that Mr. Kamoshida was in his office, and was tempted to come along to see why they wanted to talk with them, but she had work to do.
Ryuji knocked on his door with clear contempt. After a moment, Kamoshida opened the door. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Acting Student Council President, Sakamoto-kun? What do I have the pleasure to be greeting you with?”
Ryuji looked him dead straight in the eye. “It’s about Shiho Suzui’s attempted suicide earlier.”
Mr. Kamoshida is clearly a very bad actor or was mocking them as he lamented, “Oh, poor Suzui. Maybe she couldn’t bear the fact that she was horrible at volleyball or had enough of her life.” She bet it was the latter; Kamoshida had no sense of remorse, at least not until they plan to make him grow one through the MetaVerse.
Ryuji is unamused. “Can we come in or not?”
Mr. Kamoshida is confused. “We?”
Ryuji introduces Yuki. “Meet my secretary, Yuki Amamiya.” Yuki looks at Ryuji, alarmed. She wasn’t even part of the Student Council. On the other hand, she’s been associating with Ryuji so much that she might as well be considered a colleague of sorts.
Mr. Kamoshida stares at her. “You’re that transfer student I talked to before Mishima chased me off…”
Yuki gave Kamoshida a thinly veiled look of disgust which he thankfully did not pick up on. She decided to back Ryuji’s alibi about her. “I’m Ryuji’s aide, and I am here to assist him in discussing some information someone at Shujin handed Ryuji-san.”
Mr. Kamoshida did not waste much effort in disguising his fuming, but he let them in nonetheless. “What is this information?”
Ryuji lays his phone out on the table. “Someone at Shujin, under the condition of anonymity, gave me this audio clip.” He plays it. The voice file of Mr. Kamoshida ranting about Shiho’s absence from school permeates the room. He lets it play out and allows Kamoshida to digest the implications of it. He then said, “This was recorded two days ago. The student made an attempt to contact me yesterday, but I was busy delivering a report to the Principal at the time. Today he was able to reach out to me with this message after Suzui’s attempted suicide. Considering everything that you said in the file along with today’s events, I have suspicions.”
Mr. Kamoshida leans back. “Sakamoto-kun, has it ever occurred to you if this is forged?”
Ryuji waves it aside. “The student is well known for their integrity, not that it matters considering the student body is rather full of integrity anyways. The fact that you said that though coupled with Suzui’s attempted suicide…” His face hardens.
Kamoshida smiles. “It’s not as if I said that in pure hatred and anger. You’re forgetting that even an adult can erupt in fits of anger and say stuff they never truly meant."
Ryuji slams the table, his voice cracking with anger. “We are talking about a high school girl, who tried to kill herself today. When I got that voice file, I couldn’t believe it. Someone like you abused their authority and it almost resulted in someone almost committing suicide and possibly dying.”
Kamoshida just continued to smile. “That voice file is insufficient evidence. There’s no evidence of me doing anything to her and she’s clearly too distraught to testify in front of a court. Additionally, my position as coach of the Volleyball team guarantees Shujin students and the school fame and fortune. Do you think the Principal won’t squash this? Nice try.”
His face then hardened. “And to think you would have the gall to accuse me of being responsible for this girl’s death. The idea that you would peddle circumstantial evidence in front of me, if not even forged evidence, is outlandish. I will be sure to have a talk with the Principal about this.”
Ryuji seethed with anger, but Yuki put a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go, Ryuji. We’ll just have to go to Plan B.”
Ryuji sighs. “Plan B it is then.”
Kamoshida is clueless but revels in his victory. “Plan B? Bah. You won’t get far in any method you attempt. It’s such a shame though; she was a pretty girl. She would have done fine in volleyball under my guidance.”
Ryuji clenches his fist, but Yuki drags Ryuji out the door before he did anything irrational.
They walked back to the Student Council room. Mari, one of Ryuji's cohorts in the Student Council, walked up to him. "119 paramedics already came by and wheeled her out. Should we inform her parents?"
Ryuji nods. "As much as they may have possibly contributed to today's case, inform them at least. If Principal Kobayakawa hasn't already. I suspect the hospital will be making a call themselves anyway."
Yuki turned to Ryuji as Mari walks away. "Let's postpone going back to that castle until tomorrow. We don't want to leave Ann behind and besides, if she found out we went without her, she may try to follow us or even attempt to go on her own."
Ryuji nods. "Agreed."
Shiho is in a hospital bed, looking out the window. She thankfully has little bruising from her fall after Ryuji and Yuki saved her. Ann is sitting next to her, looking at her face.
A knock on the door.
Ann looks at the door with a dubious face. "The doctors already left. Could it be your parents, Shiho?"
Shiho looks away. "I don't want to see them anyway."
Ann sighs. "You probably shouldn't talk about your parents like that... on the other hand, they must be real bastards to let it come to this."
She calls out, "Come in!"
The door slides open. A short blue-haired lady walks in. She's wearing a blue waistcoat and a blue dress shirt with black slacks. "Excuse me. My name is Naoto Shirogane. I'm a free-lance detective contracted with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police department. When this got to the police's attention, I took charge of the case because my intuition told me there was more behind it and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the victim."
Ann's eyes widened in shock. "You're the Naoto Shirogane? The Detective Prince?"
Naoto looks away. "The first. And preferably I hope not to be referred to by that moniker. Those days are long past. Anyways, it's my personal perogative to find out what could cause a bright, happy young girl to have to resort to something both terrifying and horrifying."
Ann didn't see Shiho sit up a bit straighter. "My friend has been going through a tough time for a while."
Naoto nods. "Understandable. I can relate to that in a way; when I was younger, my parents died by nature of a car accident, so I was raised solely by my grandfather. I never made that many friends, at least not until I moved to a small rural town called Inaba 5 years ago."
Shiho spoke for the first time. "I'm sorry for your loss. I don't... know how to respond to that. It's so different from my own situation."
Naoto smiles. "It was a rough childhood, but I made friends in Inaba 5 years ago and they taught me that it was okay to embrace who I was and not let that define me. Even though I am descended from a line of private detectives, my reasons for being one were challenged and then guided by my friends, who taught me those values."
Naoto then gets serious. "Those values are also why I'm here today, to help people like you, Suzui-san. I know what it is like to feel alone, to feel betrayed, but that is always never the case. You are lucky to have friends who will support you. Please, help me. Tell me what happened, and I swear that I will do all that is in my capability to find justice for you."
Ann squeezes Shiho's hand, smiling. "Shiho, it's okay. I only barely met her, and already I feel that she can be trusted."
Shiho finds Ann's hand to be comforting. She nods to Naoto as Naoto pulls out her recorder and other materials to take Shiho's testimony. "Alright, Ann. I trust your judgment. Besides, she seems to be a nice lady. I can tell she meant everything she said."
Naoto begins to set up her recorder and her laptop to write notes and testimony. "Whenever you're ready, Suzui-san. Don't worry, remember that you don't need to push yourself. You can skip or gloss over any parts you feel uneasy to talk about. Now, help me understand what happened and who did this to you. I will make sure that they will not get away with it. You have my word and honor as a detective."