Fumiko blew her whistle when the last of the Hanagwa players finished their dinners. They groaned, splayed out and comfortable in their chairs. They shuffled and glared at her.
"Team meeting!" Fumiko declared. She locked eyes with Captain Hirano across the room. He mouthed something to her. 'Mail', maybe? Kaho wasn't sure. Fumiko beckoned the team to the door, bowing at Detective Asakura as she led the team to the door.
One of the officers stepped in front of the doorway.
"Not without an escort," he said gently.
Fumiko bowed again, "Of course."
Taiga and another officer crossed the room to accompany the team to somewhere safe.
"We don't want our meeting disturbed, would it be okay to use the outdoor seating area?" Captain Hirano asked, "With supervision."
"What do you think, Detective?" the officer on the door asked.
Detective Asakura pursed his lips, "I suppose if two of you keep an eye on them, from a few metres back they have some privacy, whilst still being under surveillance."
Sunada clapped Captain Hirano on the back, "Good job, Azumi."
Hanagawa's team were escorted out into the cool evening area. The sun was setting, and the temperature had dropped a bit. Kaho shivered.
Fumiko led the team to where they had done yoga that very first morning, still within sight of officers inside, while being far enough away to let the officers that accompanied them some distance too. Taiga followed her, muttering in her ear about tactics and being as brazen as she had in the dining hall. She shrugged him off, insisting that this was more important than being sly.
Kaho's throat felt like it was closing up. She knew the team would believe her, they had no reason not to, but Taiga? Could she count on him actually believing anything her letters had to say? And Naseru – what if he demanded proof? Her letter all but declared some unresolved emotions and her need to save him, he didn't want to be saved, and what if he thought all her efforts were just because she was some kind of puppet – sure that was kind of the case, but not in full. She liked Naseru. She had a lot of … complicated feelings about Naseru. He liked her too. He'd made that clear when he'd toyed with her and contemplated kissing her.
Would all of that go down the drain?
"It got cold really quick," Ryota complained, "Couldn't we have had a meeting inside?"
Fumiko glared at him, her eyes narrowing. She crossed her arms over her chest, and scowled. Ryota slunk out of her eyeline. She seemed like she had done on the bus after Omura had tried to buy sake. She sighed, audibly and put her hands on her hips.
"Circle. Now," she commanded.
Taiga grinned, plonking himself down on the decking, waiting for the team to follow suit. They took a moment, shuffling until they were comfortable. Fumiko stood in the middle. She reached into her pocket and produced Kaho's letter. She hadn't kept the envelope, but just a piece of paper made the team freeze.
"What does it say?" Konoishi asked, his voice cracking.
"It's not mine," Fumiko said, "It's Kaho's. It says who did it."
"It?" Taiga asked incredulously, "You can't possibly be talking about what I think you are."
"Sorry, Coach," said Captain Hirano, "She does."
"But how? Kaho?" Taiga's voice raised an octave, "Kaho, please tell me this is some elaborate prank?"
Ryota rolled his eyes. He gently folded the letter, cutting the first two paragraphs off from view, so nobody had to read about how much Kaho's Older Self cared about Naseru, or what could become of Taiga. She could have tackled him in a hug right there and then. He raised a brow at Taiga and sighed, exhaling deeply from his nose.
"Taiga, it's not a confession. Chill. She was with Eiji and Yuta last night. She was with you last night," Ryota said.
Taiga crossed his arms.
"Look," Fumiko said, her arms crossed in the middle of the circle, "This information looks like a hoax, right? But we know the truth. So we have to steer the adults the same way. But, without showing them our hands."
"What do you suggest?" Omura asked, glancing up at the letter, "What can we do for that Akane chick?"
"She will be coming to my room with Satoru and Kaho, and we were going to watch that new Yamota Hakuro movie, you know the one with Kokuro Daisuke in it. I know you bought the DVD on Friday, Satoru. Coach, we're going to need your computer."
"Uh, no!" Taiga protested, "Not until you explain this whole thing to me. What is this even supposed to mean? How come all of you guys reacted to a piece of paper like it was a cobra? How come you're talking like you're psychics playing chess? I don't get it. Explain it to me like I'm five. And then, maybe I'll help you."
The chatter in the circle was getting louder, as other members of the team interjected, talking over each other, trying to convince Taiga that she wasn't lying. But what were claims that Taiga couldn't validate? He wouldn't care that the letters from the future were the reason Kikiyo, Ichigo and their brothers were living in their house. There was no proof. Her Older Self didn't focus on Kikiyo, Mamoru's did. She needed to think back through the letters and hope that there was something on those pages she could use to her advantage.
All the while her letter was making the rounds, every person who read it was another person closer to Naseru, and he was the last person she wanted to read that. Her throat felt tight. She had to say something, something that could convince Taiga, and then wrench that letter from circulation. Naseru couldn't know, and think she was fake. She would rather curl up into a ball and die than risk him dismiss all of her kindness and thoughtfulness as just being due to her letters. Sure the letters put him on her radar, but he was a good looking guy, and he was lonely. She would have gone to him on her own, right? Right?
She didn't know anymore. But as her mind whirled like she was in a cyclone, a sentence in one of her Older Self's letters struck her like lightning. Something her Older Self had said just that morning.
Kaho stood up in the middle of the circle. Her legs trembled under her, knees knocking as she balled her fists and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Iknowwhatyoudointhebathroom!" she declared in one breath.
"Eh?" Taiga said, tilting his head to the side.
"The bathroom!" Matsushita gawked, "Kaho, what happens between a man and his bathroom is sacred. Don't air his dirty laundry like that."
"Heh, dirty laundry," Omura snorted, "Nice choice of words, huh, Hisashi."
Matsushita's cheeks burned, he elbowed Omura in the ribs.
"How you pray!" Kaho elaborated, her cheeks turning red, "I meant how you pray!"
Taiga paused, "How did you-"
"It says, right there on the letter, clear as day."
Tomohiro, having barely glanced at the letter, simply passed it to Taiga beside him. He read the contents of the letter, from top to bottom and a ghost of a whisper left his lips.
"Heartbreak…"
Taiga frowned putting the letter closer to his face, like he was scrutinising each stroke of her Older Self's pen for a sign it wasn't true. He squinted at each word, likely recognising Kaho's handwriting.
Kaho held her breath, opening her eyes and crossing her fingers, praying that he would finally believe her. This conversation felt like it had lasted hours already. She felt nauseous.
'Kaho – he intends to kill a girl called Kiminara Akane, she's a chaperone from Kuroyama Academy and when the police suspect her baby brother, Shoji, which they did before, he killed himself. You need to keep Akane safe, and prevent her from being hurt. If you can keep Kiminara Akane safe, you will save her and her brother's lives. Please, try, Kaho.
The best way to do that is to stay away from the murderer. Please, stay far away from Sato Kenta, the handyman.'
He scrunched the letter up in his fist, tossed it away, and glared across the circle at Kaho, "Is this some kind of joke?"
Kaho shook her head, "I read it this afternoon. I should have read it earlier… I'm sorry."
"They're important," Captain Hirano said gently, "It's a lot of a pressure for all of us, and any other day, it would have probably been fine to just read it whenever, but not now. I guess it's a rough reminder for all of us. And I for one am really sorry that you've been burdened with all of this."
Kaho put her head in her hands. This wasn't supposed to happen like that. Taiga, of all people, should have been the easiest one to sway. She couldn't believe her older brother had such disdain for her to even suspect she would turn someone's murder into a spectacle, let alone throw baseless accusations out into the world, and assume who he would attack next. Did he really think so lowly of her?
Ryota crawled across the circle and enveloped Kaho in a hug. Taiga watched the nearest members of the team console her with scepticism. He pursed his lips and looked over at Fumiko and then back to Ryota, who was still comforting Kaho.
He sighed, "It's not a prank, is it?"
Fumiko shook her head, "So we need your computer."
"Done."
Kaho squirmed in Ryota's arms, peering over his shoulders at Taiga. Her eyes were glassy and red, like she was on the verge of tears. her throat felt tight. She clung to Ryota's shirt, clinging to the fabric of his shirt. He felt her sob against her.
"Shh. Shh," Ryota said, "We're going to help her. It's going to be okay, okay?"
Kaho nodded.
"I'm going to let you go now, okay?"
Kaho nodded again, she scanned the circle for any sign of her crumpled-up letter, and found it in the hands of a boy she didn't want to see it. He'd retrieved it from where Taiga had tossed it.
Kaho felt like sobbing.
"I'm what-," Naseru said quietly, holding Kaho's letter completely unfurled. His grip was light, cautious like it might rear back and bite him, like a feral cat or a venomous snake, "Don't have a clue what any of this is supposed to mean."