Chapter 13

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“The Random Assailant?”

The Fusuma nodded firmly then wiped away another tear.

(So that’s why it’s attacks become much more frequent…)

Shouma was convinced.

Before coming here, Tendou had said that the Fusuma came out more often than it usually did before. If the Fusuma turned more frantic because it became aware of the Random Assailant and the fact that the victims compared it to the Ittan-momen, it would explain a lot about the situation.

Shouma kneeled down in front of the Fusuma.

“That’s just another way of calling you. There’s no such thing as the Random Assailant.”

“But there really is a Random Assailant! I haven’t attacked that many people!”

“You don’t mean you count them all, do you?”

“No, I didn’t count, but…”

“The Random Assailant is real, even though the Fusuma was also there.” stated Tendou plainly as he smoothly interrupted the conversation between the kaii and Shouma.

With somewhat doubtful emotions, Shouma took a look at the other man over his shoulders.

“What do you mean?”

“Souma, didn’t you notice anything strange when you wrote this?”

Tendou threw the boy his notebook, which was where Shouma collected all the information and statements from those who were previously attacked.

Shouma unfolded the notebook and lowered his gaze to read through the pages.

“To quote Tendou-san’s words, I don’t think I…”

“I’ll give you a hint, it’s the method of the crime.”

“The method of the crime…”

Shouma slid his fingers into the notebook.

“There were two ways… of how it carried out the crime?”

As he recalled, there really were two different methods of how the assailant committed the attacks. In most cases, suffocation was the same, but there were two ways to get the victims to faint, by covering their faces or by strangulation.

“Yes. The Fusuma is a kaii that covers one’s face and suffocates its victims. It won’t try to choke the victim by the neck. In other words, if someone said they were strangled, it means they were attacked by something other than the Fusuma.”

“Then it’s the…”

“Random Assailant, yes.”

Shouma turned the pages of his notebook to make sure of its content.

“It’s written there that both men and women were assaulted, but there was a slight bias towards the women being attacked, right? They were all beautiful women with dark hair”

Shouma nodded as an answer for Tendou’s question. That was what Yoshihiro had told him before so he wrote it down in his notebook, hoping that it might give him some clues.

“And then there is Hikasa-san, the beautiful black-haired woman you talked with. She was being strangled. Perhaps this offset was the plan of the Random Assailant all along. Let its identity be a man’s or a woman’s, it has been committing crimes against dark-haired women, while hiding in the shadows of the Fusuma.”

“But what about Kayama-san…”

“She testified that her face was covered, didn’t she? The Fusuma doesn’t choose its next victims. It would attack any type of people, doesn’t matter if it is a man or a woman with dark or brown hair.”

“What is conclusive about Hikasa-san is that she was attacked at a different time period. She testified that the stars were already out at that time. You may be able to see stars even at twilight, but if one would like to refer to this time of day, it would be more adequate to say, ’It was in the evening,’ wouldn’t it?”

Shouma covered his mouth.

“’Well, then, the Random Assailant is really…”

“I’m sure it is here. It is a vicious criminal who can easily repeat its crimes with the advantage of not being able to get caught.”

Tendou stroked his chin as he got on with his story.

“So, I’m going to take a wild guess here, but Hikasa-san was attacked exactly one week ago on Wednesday, right? I’m not an expert in this field, but I’ve just heard that human criminals repeat their crimes in the same cycle, usually following a pattern.”

“Today is…Wednesday!”

“Yeah. Maybe we’ll have another victim this evening.”

“That is…!”

Shouma stood up in a hurry, anxiety written on his face.

However, at the same time Tendou turned on his heel with an unruffled facial expression.

“So, now that the mystery is solved, let’s go home. And let’s not forget that the Fusuma had to go back to the book properly this time.”

“Ha?”

“We need to hurry because today is the re-airing of the drama I want to watch.”

Seeing the easygoing reaction of Tendou, Shouma raised his voice.

“Don’t you want to catch the Random Assailant?”

“Alright. This type of ’job’ is not even my speciality. Also, it’s not like I’m a kind of hero on the side of justice.”

“But…”

“Then Shouma can go find him on his own. We’ve got the Fusuma just like this and the rest is free time. Don’t worry about the money, I’ll transfer it to you tomorrow.”

Even though there was a chance someone might be attacked today, Tendou stayed a stranger to the incident.

Shouma furrowed his brow.

“…I understand.”

Tendou then called out to Shouma, who was just about to go somewhere. “So are you really going to go look for it?”

“I’m just going to walk around a bit. If someone really gets assaulted tonight, won’t you have an uneasy conscience?”

“Shouma, you’re truly a kind person, you know.”

“…I just don’t wish to fight with my conscience.”

Feeling like he was being mocked, Shouma tried to resist the urge to frown.

That’s when it happened.

“I’ll go with you!” shouted the Fusuma. “I’ll go with Shouma. I have a grudge against the Random Assailant, too!”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Tendou’s voice, who stopped the little creature, sounded slightly more stern than usual.

“You have to go back to the book.”

“But…”

“There is no ’but’, I’m here to take you back into the book.”

Holding up the Collected Records, Tendou refused to budge.

“Now that you are not in the perfect shape I can force you back into the book without any effort, but I don’t wish to do that even though I could… You know what I mean, right?”

“It’s…”

“Don’t overthink it. It’s for your own good.”

“…”

“Tendou-san!”

It was now Shouma who wedged his way into the arguing between the other two.

“Please lend me the Fusuma then!”

“Hmm?”

“It would be reassuring to have the Fusuma who is also able to fly, helping me. Didn’t you just take out something called the Aosagibi a moment ago from the Collected Records? So put it back in the book at once and just call it out again like that…”

“I can’t do that. Once a kaii returns, it can’t get too far from the Collected Records.”

“Well, then, can’t you lend me the Collected Records…?”

“No, that’s impossible.”

“Then…”

Shouma tried desperately to think. However, his mind could not come up with anything that would persuade Tendou.

“Then, I’ll come back!” It was the Fusuma that said this.

“I’ll come back when this is all over. I promise!”

“So you want me to just let you go?”

“Now I have a mission!”

Shouma quickly raised his hands and Tendou fell silent.

He scratched his head in a cumbersome manner as he met two serious stares aimed at him.

“Please!”

“Please!”

“Good grief! I don’t have much choice…”

Tendou shook the Collected Records. Then, before one could even notice, the Ohaguro-bettari and the Aosagibi disintegrated. The two kaii transformed into tiny letters on the pages as they got sucked into the book.

“If the Fusuma escapes, I’ll make you pay a million extra for the restoration of your amulet.”

“Gee…”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes, it’s okay…”

“Go ahead and do what you want then.”

Tendou narrowed his eyes for a moment, then turned away and lastly waved with his hand.

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