…Hmm? What’s this…?
I’ve never noticed such a small piece like this before. Some pieces have their own cracks which breakdown into fragments. …Just like how the fate that we sincerely believe their own cracks.
A fate whose fragments are lost…is a totally different fate in itself. …Then I wonder which piece does this fate originally belong to?
I picked up this sliver of a piece…and tried to match it with some of the other pieces that I’ve picked up along the way.
…And I kept on trying to fit it together..until I came down to the Himatsubushi-hen piece.
The shape of this piece was twisted from the beginning. I began to match that sliver with this piece and….see? It matches. …I wonder what a different fate awaits in this world with this sliver of a pieceintact? What kind of miracle would occur in this world…?
The world began to spiral. …I guess a fault line was created in this world because I re-attached a broken piece onto it. …But that doesn’t mean I can take a peek inside this world…
This world is set in the year 1985. …It’s set in a time beyond the story where Furude Rika and her friends have died on June of 1983.
Beep! Za-za! The order to move came through the headset.
“All teams, the chief has a message for all of you. Listen up!”
“All right everyone! The local police has given us 15 minutes to wrap this up. Let every second count!! Don’t let a single person escape!! The main target is that one diplomat. Don’t let him suspect you’re a cop! Just grab him and go! But becareful not to lay a single bruise on him! It’ll lead to diplomatic troubles if we do!!”
“He’s a dirt bag who hides under diplomatic immunity to deal with the local yakuzas. He launders money from drug dealing and forces people into the sex-slave trade by means to pay off high interest debts. The embassy over there gave us the report that some of their victims are younger than teenagers.”
“…What a shit bag.”
Usually these types are cases are handled by the department that handles criminal organizations. …But since this case included a foreign diplomat, this whole thing became much more difficult to handle.
Diplomats have a thing called diplomatic immunity in which it prevents us from arresting them. …But that diplomat is an important figure in this scheme and there is no doubt that he is the middle man between the illegal activities conducted by the foreign criminal organization and the Japanese yakuza. We cannot let him escape.
He’ll probably be sent out of Japan, but that doesn’t solve anything. We’ve asked the embassy he works for numerous of time, but with no avail. Hence, this case was put on a standstill…
But then, we’ve gained intel that they are going to be selling our SDF’s classified radar and missile technology secrets. The Public Safety Division set the move on the premise to protect classified government data.
…And today was the day that this operation was set to go…
“Two men from the front. Two from the underground entrance. Four from the back. All suspects believed to be armed!”
“Two more than usual”
“Don’t worry, it’ll only take two seconds more for that man. …He shows no mercy to these things.”
“You got that Akasaka!? You’re gonna be the lead man. Watch your back! Alright, let’s move!”
“…This is Akasaka, copy. Let’s go.”
A man suddenly appeared from the darkness of the mean streets. …It was Akasaka. But he doesn’t have the naiveness that he showed when he first met Rika.
…Akasaka came down to the underground entrance to the club. A bouncer with a thick foreign accent stopped him from entering.
“Dis, need membership. Dude, you have membership card?”
“………………”
Akasaka whipped out the membership card. …It’s a card that’s very difficult to forge, so they were only able to get one. So, they gave that card to Akasaka since he’s the lead man.
The bouncer stepped aside once he saw the membership card and allowed Akasaka to go down the steps.
“…Akasaka-san has cleared the first bouncer. He’s now walking downstairs…!”
“C’mon…Akasaka…”
The underground entrance was extremely lavish like the ones you see for those high-class clubs. The cocktail lights shined like venom, as if it was foretelling that this is the entrance to the poisonous cave.
“…Hello sir. May I see your membership card?”
“…………………”
One of the guards to the entrance took his card and swiped it through the reader on the wall.
BEEP.
Error. …A slight perspiration is seen on Akasaka’s forehead.
…But the guard tried two or three times over and over again thinking he made a mistake in swiping the card.
…BEEP. ….BEEP.
“…Akasaka seems to have hit a snag…”
“Shit, don’t tell me they made a change to the system…?!”
“…If Akasaka gets into trouble, we’re gonna have to change the plan. Get ready to secure the safety of Akasaka…”
The other guard began to get irritated. He started to move his right hand into the inner pocket of his jacket…mostly likely reaching for his concealed gun…
….DING DONG.
The buzzer suddenly rang a delightful tone, and the reader flashed a green lamp. It was immediately followed with a loud sound of the lock opening the entrance door.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Here you go sir.”
The other guard subsequently laid his right arm down and opened the door. A well dressed guard then came up to the door and began apologizing to Akasaka as he welcomed him in.
…Akasaka cleared the obstacle.
This signaled all the teams that it was a go, …while at the same time Akasaka was in dangerous territory deep within enemy lines.
This door was the largest obstacle to make our ambush. It’s the state-of-the-art auto-lock system which locks itself once the door is closed. The door is made with high-end security in mind so it takes time to open it from the outside.
…Hence, someone has to get this door opened and secure this area for a few seconds in order for this raid to begin. And the chief himself selected that Akasaka was the only one who could handle such a dangerous task.
“…Akasaka clear. Entrance secured.”
”GO!! GO!! GO!!”
The building across the bar was getting a new tenant in, so there were two moving trucks parked in front of it. But this was all a disguise. One of the truck’s door opened and out came several dozen casually dressed investigators!! The same thing was happening to the back entrance.
Several of the bouncers and the guards noticed that something was happening and began to draw their guns. However, they were immediately taken down by other investigators nearby who were posed as innocent bystanders.
Dozens of investigators quietly but calmly descended the stairs to the underground entrance. …This tight space was also a major obstacle to the plan.
This entire debacle was being recorded through their security camera. Hence either way, this ambush was going to be known in a matter of seconds. If they press the security button, the door would be locked preventing any entrance from the outside no matter what the investigators did. Therefore, it was absolutely vital to secure the entrance before it closed.
The two guards immediately sensed that something was wrong when they heard the sounds of loud but focused footsteps descending the stairs! The well-dressed guard that greeted Akasaka also sensed that something was wrong…!
The three guards shifted their attention from Akasaka to the stairs and began to make their move towards the stairs. Akasaka instinctively sensed their shift of attention. ...Akasaka silently took a small breath...and stopped his breath.
The two guards standing beside him suddenly lopped into the air...!!
Akasaka figured out where he stood alongside the two guards next to him. Hence, he didn’t even have to look where they were at with his eyes. …But still…!
His fists drove into their face with millimeter accuracy. His moves were well trained, as if they showed his resolved to never back down against evil. And his force against evil were destructive as to pierce through no matter how strong the evil’s wills were!!
He retracted his arms at the same speed as he struck...!!
His speed was so fast, word cannot express the lightening of his moves!! The man watching him directly must’ve been dazed in comprehending what had just happened.
The two guards whipped up into the air, and the man who was just standing next to him was now crouching below low. The time that seemed to have stopped suddenly began to move at crashing speed!!
The well-dressed guard literally hit the ceiling and crashed down into the ground! This man will forever try in vain as he eats through a tube in his mouth to recall whether it was Akasaka’s fists or leg that broke his jaw. It was so fast he couldn’t even remember!!
This guard rolled into the door like a human door stub. Lucky for Akasaka for now he didn’t have to worry about keeping the door open for the other investigators to rush in!
“…This is Akasaka. I’m going in.”
“W, wait!! Akasaka! You’re gonna need back up! At least wait until they come down!! Hey, Akasaka!!”
The club room was filled with loud music, but everyone seemed to have noticed the brouhaha at the entrance.
“GET DOWN!!”
As soon as Akasaka bellowed his warning, screams filled the club.
Most of the people immediately ducked to the ground as if they were trying to proclaim their innocence from their sins. But a mob of guards reacted quickly up against Akasaka!
In the midst of this, there were a few people who were trying to make their escape through the back with several bodyguards.
Akasaka once again sucked up his breath…and chased after them with the speed of a fox!!
He jumped up onto the table smashing bottles of wine more expensive than his own monthly salary and splashing ice cubes made from the icebergs of the arctic!!
A foreign bodyguard who previous profession must’ve been a professional boxer thoughtlessly stood in front of Akasaka. His accent was too strong to comprehend, but it seems he was trying to taunt Akasaka. But, Akasaka’s didn’t pay any attention to him nor did he show any care towards him either.
The only show that this man was able to show was that he was able somehow able to block Akasaka’s move. But, blocking Akasaka’s move is just futile!! The power of Akasaka’s punches were so incredible it just broke the man’s bones in his desperate attempt to block them!!
The ex-boxer yelled out in pain as he saw his own arms twisted in a disgusting way. But he was immediately shut up as Akasaka’s left arm grinded into his ugly face!!
Akasaka is right-handed. So the ex-boxer should actually be grateful that he got away with an orbital fracture!
Another man saw this as a chance and tried to go up against Akasaka from his behind. No matter how strong a guy is, he’ll go down easily if his back is unprotected…!! If he’s focused on what in front of him, he’s surely have no attention paid to an attack from the back…!!
But that theory only holds true IF Akasaka was actually focused on the man he just defeated. …In fact, Akasaka only saw the person he just defeated more like a fly, so the theory was wrong from the start!!
Hence, Akasaka knew exactly when and what was about to happen. …The experience that he had built up to this day was recorded into his body, and he could instantly tell the timing and method when menaces to society like these would make their move from his back…!!
His move continued fluidly from the left arm that he struck against the ex-boxer.
His left arm retracted and at the same time he arced his left feet around beautifully like a piece of art as it crashed into the man approaching from the behind.
The nasty crunching sound was heard, signaling that he had just broken the nose of the man behind his back. …But Akasaka already knew that before his leg hit him!!
Akasaka continued his motion like water and directed an decisive right blow to the side of his head!!!
The man slammed into the wall and bounced back onto the ground like a rag doll.
Akasaka let out a deep breath once again.
At this moment, all the guards realized underneath the glare of the club lights that they were up against a demon!
Like hell we’re gonna go up against him! We’re getting paid to fight against humans, not against the devil himself!!
And finally the back-up arrived into the club room.
But I shouldn’t use the term “finally.”
…Besides, all of this happened in a matter of seconds!
Akasaka put down five grown men in just the span of two short breaths!!
“Put your hands above your ahead!! I won’t guarantee your life if you resist!!”
Thanks to Akasaka’s blitzkrieg, the flow of the clamor stopped immediately. The impressive first strike that Akasaka showed shattered the will of the gang leaders. They all gave up and crouched onto the floor with their hands above their head as they were just told to do so.
But, there was one man who put an ugly smug on his face.
“Hey, don’t you guys dare touch me. It’ll evolve into a diplomatic scandal if you do, you know?”
But Akasaka grabbed his collar and smacked his body onto the concrete wall.
“Hey, you—you a cop? I—I have diplomatic immunity!!! I am a diplomat!!”
“Oh really, that’s nice. What’s your salary?”
“This—this is gonna lead to a diplomatic scandal! At least…hey, let me call my embass…
“OaahhhhH!!”
Akasaka let out a dragon-like growl and delivered a powerful right blow to the wall behind the diplomat, just a few microns to the right of the diplomat’s head.
He immediately followed suit with a left blow a few microns to the left of his head. In less than two blinks of an eye, Akasaka pounded the wall with seven blows just a sliver away from his head. The wall had a huge crack which was about to topple. The diplomat was fearing for his life as he knew that one blow from him can bust his head open!
The diplomat began to piss in his pants and fell down onto the ground as he realized his diplomatic immunity status meant nothing!
“…Ha….hahii……”
“…This is Akasaka. Target, acquired.”
An investigation later would reveal that the club had a secret escape route that the Public Safety didn’t know about. They would find dozens of Soviet military-grade AK-47s from there, and if Akasaka had not secured the club with his blitzkrieg, they might’ve jeopardized the entire operation. Even worse, this operation might’ve have ended with a brutal death toll on both sides.
It was all thanks to Akasaka that this operation was put down with not a single shot fired.
“…Let’s get going. Hurry! The cops will be arriving soon. Cattle them into the stable, hurry!!”
We must take precaution so that it must look like this whole thing was not carried out by the police, due to the diplomatic nature that is involved. This operation was made to look like it was just an ordinary yakuza war.
We’re going to dump the useless gang members on a field in the middle of nowhere. Then, we’re going to make the scumbag barf everything he knows about this scheme he’s involved with before turning him over to the police.
This diplomatic pig will then probably be used as a negotiating device by another part of our department. We already have proof that the pig is tied to an underground criminal organization. And since his embassy and his government wouldn’t want such a persona non grata on their hands, they would most likely cut off any ties with him. What happens after that, is left to the jurisdiction on another part of our department. We are the guys that does the job that the normal police cannot step their feet into. We’re the janitors of the small space between the furniture known as society.
“Akasaka, are you alright?! Come in, Akasaka!!”
“…This is Akasaka. We’re on our way.”
“Sheesh, why do you have to be so rash all the time…! Come up to the chief’s office immediately once you get back in!”
“Like I’ve been saying, Akasaka-san is the devil. Five men in two seconds?!”
“…Man, his moves are beyond karate! His hands need to be registered as a deadly weapon…”
“But he’s very lucky that they didn’t draw their weapons. …You know how brutal Akasaka-san is. He could’ve been capped dozens of rounds.”
“….Hey shut up. I can hear you guys. Don’t try to make me like some kind of assassin. I’m just a man who shows no mercy against evil.”
The pigs that they’ve caught today are not you average criminals. …They were the scumbags of earth who have done things that are so inhumane that their deeds can never be forgiven. The powers that go into Akasaka’s fists are proportional to their sins. The heavier their sins, the stronger his blows are towards his enemies!
“Let get these pigs into the stable! Akasaka, hurry it up! The cops are coming!”
“…This is Akasaka. Roger. You guys heard that, right? C’mon, let’s get going.”
“Ye…yes sir! Uh command, we have five injured! Need meds ready!”
Akasaka has clearly evolved with no signs of naiveness that we’ve seen back when he was still a rookie in Hinamizawa. He has grown up to a vigilant ace within his department, and a dedicated investigator…
We see Akasaka training inside a dank dojo filled with the smells of sweat and fungus.
This dojo was a single room which was occupied in a small building in the mean streets of Tokyo. It was small and there were no signs of expensive training equipments either. By the looks of it, it was a very shoddy dojo for such a skilled person like Akasaka to go to. There weren’t many students at this dojo as well. There were only three or four people training at this dojo including Akasaka himself.
…But this was the dojo that Akasaka chose to attend.
For Akasaka, karate was his own personal weapon to defeat his enemies. …But Akasaka had other motives as well… And that other motive could not be attained by going to a dojo that taught actual physical lessons with a group of hot-headed young students. He went from dojo to dojo until he came to this old dump…
The heavy pounds and the cranks of chain that can be heard often were from Akasaka delivering his blows towards a sandbag.
…He doesn’t punch the sandbag blindly. He silences his mind, develop his thoughts deeply and…
Strikes!
The sounds that are made from those are more like deep, low vibrations.
Drops of sweat splash around, and the dusts in the dojo wells up into the air. One can easily tell the heaviness of that blow. It was a brilliant all-for-one type of strike.
But Akasaka was not satisfied.
He shut his eyes once again, …he set his breath straight and relaxed the tensions in his muscles as if he was hearing the cries of the cicadas he once heard…and strikes again!
He probably looks like he is taking rests between the two blows to the casual observer. …But to his fellow trainees, they can feel the monstrosity of each propelled clouts enough to send chills down their spine…
“…Dude, did you hear? They say that Akasaka-san works for the police…”
“You’re shitting me… Heck if a guy like him is in the police, I swear I’m never gonna do stupid shit to be arrested by the cops…”
“But man, …look at that focus he has! Akasaka-san doesn’t know the word of exhaustion.”
Akasaka comes to this dojo starting early in the morning on his days off. And he continues to train quietly all by himself.
The level of his training has surpassed regular strength. It was if he was training for the mind and his soul. And his fellow trainees knew that the secret to his strength was his unconditional focus that he had.
But to actually do such a method of training is easier said than done. …After all, a man lives in a world filled with personal problems and ecstatic thoughts. For a person to submit all his will into such singular focus is more like trying to attain enlightenment than the realm of martial arts.
Man has tried various methods throughout the ages to achieve such enlightenment. …And man has realized that there are many ways to attain such goal; that any man can get there so long as he focuses onto one subject and excels in that arena.
As for Akasaka, his choice was karate…
“According to a rumor that I heard…he seems to have lost a wife. And that’s the reason why he’s devoting himself to karate.”
“Oh really? I heard different. …What I heard was that he began doing karate because he felt pain and sorrow for not being able to save a young girl on one his investigations.”
“…..Hey, I can hear you guys. Stop talking about other people and focus on your own training!”
“Y….Yes sir!!!”
Just then, a beeping sound echoed in the dojo. It was someone’s watch notifying that it was lunch time.
“A…Akasaka-san. We’re gonna go out to buy something for lunch. Do you want something too?”
“…..Thanks. Can you go get me something? I’ll leave the decision up to you guys.”
To Akasaka, he was more delighted to have the rest of the trainees out of this dojo for a while so that he can train in the dojo quietly. The other trainees started putting on their shoes and hurriedly rushed out of the dojo to go buy lunch. The dojo became eerily quiet…
“…Damn it. My focus dissipated because of them chattering.”
But he was saying that to himself. He noted that he had much more training to do since his focus can be shifted for such a small thing like that. …He still had to train harder if he wanted to achieve enlightenment.
He tried once again to focus and delivered a strike to the sandbag, but the sound of the blow was much fainter and weaker compared to the previous ones. It was apparent that he had lost his momentum. Akasaka realized that he needed to take a rest. He took out a sports towel from his duffel bag and sat down onto the ground.
The cries of the cicadas seep into his body. The window was open, but this dojo is placed in a section of the building in which the wind doesn’t come in. But Akasaka was still able to feel a slight breeze to cool his body.
….The main reason why Akasaka started karate was exactly what the one of the trainees said. …It was Yukie’s death.
Of course his initial defeat against the conspirators who kidnapped the minister’s grandson was a reason in itself that he needed martial arts training, but the largest reason was to escape the emotional pain that came from Yukie’s death.
Yukie….died when she slipped on the stairs at the hospital while I was on an investigation at Shishibone City. The pain that came from the sadness was too overbearing…and that was when I decided to take up karate.
But…something happened on June of 1983. The Great Hinamizawa Disaster. …That’s when I realized something very important.
My Yukie’s death was…prophesized by one young girl. And in exchange for those prophecies, she also made a desperate plea for help to save her.
…Yukie’s death was an accident. No matter how much I grieve, it was something that couldn’t have been prevented.
But the little girl’s death…the death of cute little Furude Rika...was not an accident. She knew that she was going to be killed five years prior.
Right after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, I immediately recalled the name of the Oishi, the good-hearted local police investigator who took care of me while I was there. I called him to hear what happened over there...and that’s when I found out about the bad news…
The moment I learned of everything…I fell into despair all over again.
Furude Rika might’ve been the turning point of my life. If I had believed her prophecies, and if I had accordingly, perhaps Yukie’s death might’ve been averted. I took the oath of serving the public as a police officer, yet I couldn’t catch a plea of help from a little girl. I shoved aside a conspiracy that surrounded her until it was all too late. I had FIVE YEARS to do something, but I didn’t. I…practically killed her.
Visiting Hinamizawa on the kidnapping case of the minister’s grandson was…. definitely turning point in my life.
If I had just…listened to the girl a bit more seriously…
Yukie would’ve never had died.
I would’ve been able to save Furude Rika when she needed the most help.
…These are the two greatest regrets that I have…which haunts me to this day….
The Hinamizawa Chain Murder Case that I heard from Oishi was put on indefinite hiatus because of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. …But both of us saw that it was all too apparent that there was some huge conspiracy behind all of this.
I needed all the strength and the experience that I could get in order to unravel the mystery of this bizarre event. …That is why I have devoted myself to work and training…but it’s all too late. What happened…already happened.
When I was stuck in this dilemma, I was chosen to be the lead master of this dojo.
I can’t undo something that has already occurred. …So the only thing that I could do is to train myself diligently, so that if something similar should occur again, I would be there to save a person in need.
It was all too late. It was done.
Yukie died in an accident, and Hinamizawa was wiped off the map because of the gas disaster. …And Rika-chan was brutally murdered as her guts were torn out while she alive….
SHIT…!!!
I was too immersed on the death of Yukie, I didn’t have the focus to pay attention to the plea of a little girl’s cry for help…!!
…DAMN IT!!…DAMN IT….!! SHIT…..!!!
As Akasaka was clutching the hairs on his head with the thoughts of regret, …he saw a small [Shinto] shrine overhead that protected this dojo.
While Akasaka respects religion, …he has never sought to seek salvation at times of despair. …But today, Akasaka decided to ask for help to a divine being for the first time in his life.
If I could do it, I wouldn’t pray for help. …But since I can’t, I did.
His prayer was to ask for something that was too good to occur. If his wish were to be granted, everyone in the world would want the same thing.
“…Please…give me another chance to go back to that time…! I swear…I will come to both of their aid and save them from their deaths…!!”
…But at that instant, Akasaka’s body suddenly felt light.. It was if he suddenly lost balance of his body…as if he had a sudden onset of a faint…
Perhaps it was because I suddenly let out such a strong shout that my brain lost its oxygen. …However I couldn’t get my eyes off of the shrine…
“….Thank you Akasaka. …We really needed your strong will that you showed us right now.”
….Am I hallucinating and hearing things? Perhaps my brain is really deprived of oxygen.
Akasaka was undergoing a weird experience as if he was communicating with someone he has never met before.
“No matter how much we wish for a miracle…it won’t happen unless you too wish for a miracle too. …That’s because a miracle will not happen if everyone doesn’t wish for it; just like one cannot help save the other when the other is not extending his hand…”
…I have no idea what she is saying…but I can tell it was something that I should listen carefully to. …She was trying to tell me something very important…
“…Akasaka. If you wish so strongly, …I will grant you this miracle. And it will be a miracle for us. …A small piece will combine into one larger piece. …Your single resolve…can make a huge difference in the lives of many.”
“A…Are you…saying that you are able to grant my wish to turn back time to that day…?”
“…Unfortunately, I can’t do that. …All I could do is to make you aware. …The only thing that I can do is to give you a light-bulb blink inside your head on the things that you cannot learn from just one piece. …So all that I am going to do is to return this piece to where it belongs. …And this will transform itself into one huge miracle. …Of course, you won’t be able to know that it’s a miracle in there.”
….Thank you Akasaka, for remembering me.
You have no idea how long I have asked for your help.
And my plea had finally reached you.
So I say this once last time.
…Please help me…no that’s not right…
Please help US.