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“Momotsuka-kun.” Takuma felt endlessly small under Mr. Kayama's gaze. The man didn't say anything rude or threatening, but his gaze and tone were freezing. Takuma wasn't told about the reason for being summoned by a wealthy unfamiliar man, but it was easy to guess what the meeting was going to be about. Did he suspect Takuma of anything? Or even…killing Shuuj? Maybe it's true. The way we all moved on…Maybe it's a sign…
“Out of your group of children, you're the first one I reached out to. In case if I don't find out anything, I will ask whoever else I can get in touch with. I ask you to tell the truth.” Now that was a threat. Or maybe just a warning? Either way, Takuma didn't feel any less frightened. “You know where my son - Shuuji - is, don't you?”
The second Mr. Kayama uttered those words, Takuma's throat went dry. What is he to say? No one would believe him if he told the truth. Will he have to lie? To say that he doesn't know, like he did in the police interrogation - when officers asked him the same questions over and over again with that very cold tone? To say that Shuuji is completely fine and will return one day? What is he to tell about his whereabouts? They won't find the corpse and they won't find the living person. Shuuji was gone without a trace, as if he never existed in the first place.
Is Shuuji - his mind - still intact out there? Does he know what is happening here, in the real world or where their path ended up? It hurt. It hurt to say, but the illusions from the library might have been right. They forgot. When Shuuji died, he disappeared, became a faint idea of someone who might have been, but isn't. Is it what he has to say? That Shuuji…dissapeared?
The words didn't come out even as Takuma ended up with a pathetic parody of an answer. He knew that he had to accept it - to do whatever he could to not let Shuuji's death be pointless, but saying it out loud felt like trampling on what was left of Kayama Shuuji, once an unwell, but hardworking boy with his own life and feelings. No, i need something else!..I need a proper answer…
Fancy, mostly dark interior of the guest room, the high ceiling, way too good working air conditioning, dim light - everything felt like a trap, as if Takuma would never get out of here; at the moment this is what he believed. Yes, that was it for him - he is here forever, forced to remember Shuuji for the rest of his life.
“He ran away - this is what I think.” Mr. Kayama leaned in just a bit closer. “And if so, you know where he is. He needs a place to stay at and food to eat, after all.”
“I don't know…” Feeling of unrest swirled in Takuma's chest. He was barely able to speak before the towering figure of Mr. Kayama - no, of Shuuji's father.
I should tell the truth.
Only Shuuji's father spoke. “That or you knew where he is. Or maybe you know someone who does know. Either way...” He frowned, looking down at Takuma intensely. “I can't believe you have nothing to do with it.”
“Say it. Where is he?” His voice grew more pressuring, his cold image from the start of their conversation melting off. Takuma's mind was hazy - he couldn't discern if Shuji's father was angry, desperate or something else entirely.
“He's dead.”
“Huh?”
“I can't tell you the details. But…you won't find the corpse. Or…anything else.” Takuma's voice was as quiet as if he was sharing a secret. It was true in a way.
“What do you mean you can't tell?!” The man's yell forced Takuma to shut his eyes, his hands hiding the face in self-defence. “Are…you the killer?” The yell turned into hiss - Shuji's father's face twisted in fury. He got closer to Takuma, grabbing his shoulders and looking him straight in the eyes.
“I…just can't…” Takuma was barely able to speak in horror - but it was his duty to tell him. “I wish…I really wish I could bring him back home…”
As if he had been rewound, the man removed his hands off Takuma and walked away, turning away from him. On the opposite side was a large window showing a peaceful view of late spring. It has already been a year. And yet the world lived on as if nothing happened.
“I apologise for my outburst.” Mr. Kayama's voice grew cold again, not reflecting any guilt nor his previous anger - still, it was much quieter now. “...You're free to go.”
—
Takuma stumbled away from a fancy looking house of Kayama's, his head completely messed up. He had only one clear thought in his mind.
…I should light some incense for Shuuji. And Ryo, too…