Chapter 41: Address the root cause of the problem.
Morofushi Sora'aki did not recognize Tomori Hajime, nor did he know why the other party was following him.
Although Matsuda Jinpei and Hagiwara Kenji were irritable due to lack of sleep, they still acted with restraint. After venting, Matsuda Jinpei, holding onto Tomori Hajime's arm, asked in a commanding tone, "What were you planning to do by following him!"
Tomori Hajime, however, denied ever following him: "I don't know him at all! You've mistaken him for someone else!"
"Huh? You mean, your schedule this afternoon was so coincidentally that you canceled your trip to Nagano right after him?"
"I just suddenly wanted to go, and then suddenly didn't want to go anymore, is that not allowed?! My hometown is in Nagano, I just remembered I have work here, so I decided not to go, is there a problem with that?" Tomori Hajime retorted, "This is intentional assault! I'm calling the police!"
Hagiwara Kenji restrained Matsuda Jinpei, who was clearly about to retaliate, and said, "Sir, if it was an accidental injury, we will compensate you. However, we have been followed for a week, so we acted a little too much in self-defense today."
Hagiwara Kenji smiled and took out his phone, turning it on: "But can you explain why you have photos of our friends on your phone?"
The phone contained photos of Morofushi Sora'aki. Tomori Hajime was shocked and instinctively exclaimed, "Impossible! I clearly deleted them a long time ago!"
Hagiwara Kenji smirked: "'It was deleted a long time ago'—may I ask what that means?"
Tomori Hajime: "...!"
Matsuda Jinpei also revealed a smug smile: "Looks like we have the evidence now?"
Realizing he could no longer cover it up, Tomori Hajime had no choice but to admit to the charge of stalking. It was just stalking; without causing any harm, the most likely punishment would be a fine, or at worst, a few days' detention.
The so-called photo was actually taken by Hagiwara Kenji, who noticed that Tomori Hajime's phone looked very similar to his own. He slightly moved the phone to obscure the details, and with some persuasive words, he made Tomori Hajime believe that the phone was his.
Morofushi Sora'aki squatted down, looking at the middle-aged man being subdued by his friend: "So, why were you following me?"
If it were anyone else, they might have to think about who they'd made an enemy of. But Morofushi Sora'aki's social life was far too simple, and since he didn't even live here, he could know instantly through the system whether someone was watching or following him.
This has never happened before, and what's different about these past two days is...
"You just said you're from Nagano." Morofushi Sora'aki looked calmly into Tomori Hajime's eyes. "So you know me?"
Tomori Hajime suddenly felt a little guilty and flustered: "What did you say? I've never seen you before!"
Ultimately, the three people at the scene were just ordinary high school students. Since Morofushi Sora'aki had no relevant experience and couldn't get any information from them, he could only hand them over to the police.
"It's alright, I'm very perceptive of what others are looking at." said Morofushi Sora'aki. "If someone is watching me, I'll notice immediately."
To be precise, it was the system that detected it immediately.
The police station is nearby, so it's more convenient for them to go there themselves rather than have the police make the trip.
However, just as Morofushi Sora'aki gave up asking questions and the group was on their way to the police station with Tomori Hajime under their control, a little girl who looked somewhat familiar ran over: "We meet again, big brother!"
That was the little girl named "Mie" whom I met at the station yesterday.
Mie is a very natural and mature child. When she got lost at the train station before, she thought her older brother was lost and was able to talk to Morofushi Sora'aki without any fear.
It's not surprising that someone would see Morofushi Sora'aki on the roadside and choose to follow him.
Hagiwara Kenji said with a smile, "Isn't this the kid from yesterday? Hello."
Upon hearing the sound, Mie looked in the direction from which it came.
Instead of seeing the handsome faces of Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei at first glance, I saw Tomori Hajime, who was being controlled by the two of them and had a bruised and swollen face.
The child was startled and instinctively hid behind Morofushi Sora'aki: "It's a monster!"
This was originally just a small coincidence, but—Tomori Hajime gave them another "surprise".
Having already confessed to the minor offense of stalking, Tomori Hajime's body trembled the moment he saw Mie.
Matsuda Jinpei immediately increased the pressure on his hands: "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"
However, it was as if Tomori Hajime couldn't hear him: "Yuri...is it really Yuri?"
Mie, with her cute pigtails, was terrified again when she saw the bruised and swollen-faced man staring at her with an expression that was both on the verge of tears and quite frightening. She hid behind Morofushi Sora'aki, trembling and tightly clutching his clothes, not daring to peek out like before.
"Don't be afraid, Yuri… I'm your dad!" Tomori Hajime's behavior was clearly off, and Hagiwara Kenji narrowed his eyes, tentatively retorting, "Her name is Mie, not Yuri!"
"No! It's Yuri!" Tomori Hajime immediately struggled, his expression contorted with rage. "I knew I couldn't find any clues near Yuri's friend... Turns out that bastard hid her with another child!"
Tomori Hajime's words contained a great deal of information, but Tomori Hajime, whose mental state was clearly not right, did not seem to realize it at all.
"I knew it! My Yuri didn't die at all. Morofushi Chie didn't take you to the hospital. He kidnapped you and hid you!"
"I've been tracking his son for ten years, and I've finally found a clue!"
Tomori Hajime is the murderer of the Morofushi couple. Because his daughter died of appendicitis during an elementary school field trip due to a lack of timely medical attention, he transferred his hatred to the teacher at the time.
The elementary school teacher at the time was Morofushi Chie, who was also Morofushi Hiromitsu's father.
However, Tomori Hajime refused to believe his daughter was dead, thinking that the Morofushi family had hidden her, and thus killed the Morofushi couple. Furthermore, based on this premise, he stalked Morofushi Hiromitsu for many years, believing that by following Hiromitsu, who was close to his daughter, the man would eventually lead him to find his hidden daughter.
Because Morofushi Hiromitsu was too young at the time, he didn't notice that someone was paying attention to him in this situation. By the time he grew up, Tomori Hajime had already figured out Morofushi Hiromitsu's travel habits.
Yesterday, Morofushi Hiromitsu broke his routine for the first time and went to a shopping mall he had never been to before, which naturally caught the attention of Tomori Hajime.
"So that's how I noticed you. You were one of the children who were hidden away too, weren't you?"
"I was right after all! As long as I follow Morofushi Hiromitsu, he will lead me to Yuri—look, I've found you! Yuri, come here, come to Daddy!"
Mie was almost crying in fear: "...Waaah! Mie wants her brother! Waaah!!"
Matsuda Jinpei, enraged, punched Tomori Hajime in the face: "Are you kidding me?!"
"Just for something like this, someone killed someone's parents?! Destroying a family so easily?!"
Hagiwara Kenji made no attempt to stop him. He picked up his phone and said to the other end of the line, which was already connected, "Hello, officer, did you hear me clearly? If you didn't, that's okay, I've already recorded it."
Upon realizing that something was wrong with Tomori Hajime, Hagiwara Kenji immediately called the police.
Although the Matsuda Jinpei incident has caused them to have a slight prejudice against the police, it doesn't mean they won't call the police in this situation.
The police station was nearby, and after Hagiwara Kenji explained the situation, the police immediately came to arrest Tomori Hajime.
Hagiwara Kenji was the one who took on the role of explaining and clarifying, while the rest of the people sat obediently in the police station. Matsuda Jinpei looked slightly awkward.
Mie was frightened by Tomori Hajime and was standing close to Morofushi Sora'aki, with tears still in her eyes.
Morofushi Sora'aki was completely blank-minded, because it wasn't his initiative at all; Mie had come up to him on her own after he sat down.
The policewoman said gently, "Oh, what a kind brother you are."
Morofushi Sora'aki replied, "She is not my sister."
Just then, Mie's lost brother finally arrived. He looked at Mie anxiously and immediately picked her up, saying, "Are you alright, Mie? Your brother is right here!"
The policewoman gave an awkward but polite smile.
By the time Hagiwara Kenji finished explaining, it was getting dark outside.
In the time that just passed, the police contacted the relevant departments and confirmed that there is indeed such an unsolved case in Nagano.
What happens after that is not something these high school students need to worry about.
After their business here is finished, they no longer need to stay at the police station.
So after leaving the police station, Hagiwara Kenji standing at the entrance, took a deep breath. He hadn't been this nervous when he was giving his statement.
He pressed the call button with his eyes tightly shut and his hands trembling, as if he were going to his execution.
As the phone dialed, Hagiwara Kenji's breathing became much lighter.
Matsuda Jinpei responded, "Is it necessary?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "Then come and hit me!"
Matsuda Jinpei promptly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, Raki, you were a bit too quiet just now. What were you thinking about?"
"I'm thinking about how to nip the threat in the bud?" Morofushi Sora'aki replied.
Matsuda Jinpei: "...Although I don't know what you're thinking, my intuition tells me that it's best to stop you from thinking any further."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...I feel the same way!"
Just as Hagiwara Kenji was starting to relax a little, the call was answered, and he tensed up again.
Morofushi Hiromitsu's voice came through the phone: "Hello? Hagiwara?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
There was a two-second silence on Morofushi Hiromitsu's end, then he asked again, "Hello? Is anyone there? Or is this a wrong number?"
Hagiwara Kenji had mentally prepared himself, and when Morofushi Hiromitsu asked for the third time, he finally spoke up: "Um, Hiromitsu-chan..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "Hmm?"
"So, it seems we... accidentally... caught the murderer who killed your parents?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...Huh??!?!"