《Hunters Of Reality》Chapter 27: Unraveled
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2 days later - 4:00 a.m.
I haven't been able to sleep well since that incident with Akane and Henry. I haven't had a proper meal, nor have I attended any classes. Yosuke's been asking me several questions regarding my current state of mind all this time. I cannot even give him proper answers. I have also been receiving several calls from Tsujihara and Ayase, but I've been ignoring them so far. How am I even staying sane at this point, knowing that there are literally several nations looking for my father? I'm at my wits' end here. I've been trying to figure out ways of getting out of here, yet the biggest question arises---where am I, exactly?
I've tried using the GPS on my phone to figure out my location before, but it wasn't functioning. I'm also not getting much reception here. It's a very remote area. If I didn't know any better, this could very well be some experimenting grounds. I mean, it's very possible for all of this to be a scam. This could all be an elaborate plan by the government to test us... make us their guinea pigs. While I'm here, who knows what they might be doing to my father. I have to get out of here. I need to.
*Knocking on the door*
Who could that be? It's still so early.
I opened the door, only to realise who it was---Utsumi.
"Well, you look like crap, rekishiya."
"Don't say that aloud, you idiot. What if somebody passing through the corridors heard you? What if my roommate did?"
"Relax. We're the only two people awake on this floor. Anyway, I heard you've been skipping classes. I'm flattered to see you're feeling guilty about sending me to the hospital."
"No, I'm not guilt---okay, a little bit, I suppose, but that's not the actual reason. I really don't want to get you involved."
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"Fine by me. Besides, I just got discharged a while back myself. You gave me some pretty neat wounds there."
"I'm sorry. I should have held back."
"It's all good. Maybe you're ready to face that Muhai-whatever girl, right? You're strong enough to pulverise her several times over." Utsumi said.
"I'm not in a mood to fight her, Utsumi. I don't even know if I ever will, either. And most importantly, why are your clothes dirty?" I asked.
"Just before arriving here, I went to the club room, and cleaned it a bit. It's looking good now. Want to check it out?"
Reluctantly, I went to see it with him. He took me to a rather isolated little cottage, just behind the Main Building.
"This is the club room? It's like a private house. Looks run down, though."
"This was built by my dad and the other members over 30 years ago. The academy funded its construction, while my dad took care of the research funds. It's pretty cool, if I must say."
"But, isn't this where the Red Snow Massacre took place?" I asked.
"Here, and also in front of the Main School Building. But, now that we've been given the green signal, we can continue the legacy of TREC."
He truly does care for the work his father put his blood and sweat into. Due to the unfortunate circumstances, the club must have lost its reputation. Plus, his real motive is to find out about the killer, anyway.
"It's quite spacious here, for just three people." I said. "We need more members, no?"
"Obviously. But right now, I want to show you something. Here, these notes belonged to one of the founding members."
"I thought your dad was the only founder... how many in total?" I asked.
"There were three, including my father. Anyway, check it out."
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He handed me a very dusty-looking notebook. Its pages were starting to crumble.
"This belonged to a man named Kazuki Akio." Utsumi said. "Apparently, he was the brains of the club."
So this book belonged to someone really smart. I'd reckon these would be useful.
"So, what about the last one? The third founder? If your father was the person providing the funds, and if this Kazuki Akio was the one researching, then what about the third?" I asked.
"Frizmann Hallt---another one of the top researchers. According to my father, Kazuki, and this guy were sort of like research rivals---always competing to come up with something new and useful for the club. Together, they were the backbone of this place. TREC thrived during their time, until that day."
They could have accomplished so much, had they been alive to this day. No wonder TREC couldn't continue. Even if he wanted to, Utsumi's father couldn't have been able to find new members like these two rivals.
"But, this isn't the reason I brought you here. You know it."
Of course---my ability. I'm to help him catch a killer on the loose.
"This notebook that you have in your hand---try with it." Utsumi said.
I removed my gloves, and gave the notebook a touch.
In an instant, I could hear the sound of somebody trying to clean it---I couldn't see anything, but could perfectly hear it---it was Utsumi. And, it was about an hour ago. But why couldn't I see any visions? What about the time when I saw a 70-year old vision from a sword?
"Well? Anything?" Utsumi asked.
I told him my analysis. He clearly was disappointed. He didn't expect it to turn out like this.
"Well, at least I know that your power's the real deal... not that I didn't believe you before. But, it looks like you need to put in more power. If I'm correct, then the amount of power you put into while making contact is directly proportional to how far in the past you can actually see." Utsumi said.
"It's never worked before, but okay, if you say so. This probably won't make much difference."
"It's worth a try."
I touched the book again, except this time, I put in a lot more power than I did before---it felt very similar to what I did during training.
"This is insane, Henry. Do you really want to allow these kids to do this? I mean, look at this---each book written here is valuable enough to be called a national treasure. Not even the TYB is aware of this---we should have just burned these." Principal Yuriko said.
"These are too valuable to be destroyed. We've kept them here in secrecy for over 30 years, since no one would expect the notes to be located in the crime scene all this time. And, they've finally found some use, in the hands of the rightful owner---Takeda's son." Henry said.
"I only acted like I was okay about all of this, because you allowed it. But, in reality, I'm absolutely not. Nobody except the two of us, and Takeda, knows about the identity of Kuroyurei. It was a secret the three of us swore to keep. Kazuki Akio... That bastard killed all of them---the club members, TYB soldiers, my mother, and sister! I'll never forgive him... I'll rip him to shreds!" She said, while crying.
Woah. This was probably the longest vision I've ever had. It was about 2 days after we went to the Principal's office for re-establishing TREC. Miss Yuriko was weeping like hell at the end... and she even had a sister? And holy crap... Kazuki Akio!? One of the club's founders!?
"Did you find any clues, Yoshida?" Utsumi asked, eagerly.
"Screw clues---I know the killer."
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