"Stop pitying yourself. Pity yourself, and life becomes an endless nightmare." ~ Dazai Osamu
Hiromi believed the false narrative that everyone was equal... That is until she grew up and realized how untrue that statement was. In this world of...
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Things were pretty quiet after the group had left. Kunikida seemed like he was sure of his hunch so the others decided to follow his lead. Some questions were asked, mostly by Hiromi and Atsushi about where they were going, but they didn't get much information. All that was said to them was, "You'll see." Hiromi wondered what had tipped him off about who could have done the crimes involved in this case. Who was kidnapping people? Who tried to drown Sasaki? Who killed those people with poison gas? And the most important question, why were they doing this?
The four of them ended up right back at the port. Kunikida called the cab from earlier back and it didn't take long for the driver to show up. They all filed into the car, sitting in the same places they had sat in originally with Kunikida in the passenger seat and Dazai, Atsushi, and Hiromi in the back. Hiromi wasn't sure why, but things seemed a little tense whenever they sat inside the cab
"Sorry for the short notice." Kunikida told the driver.
For some reason, Kunikida had yet to tell the driver where exactly they were going. He just sat there in his seat with his arms crossed. The driver turned to him, looking a little concerned, "So you mentioned that you'd figured out who's behind the serial murder case. I imagine that you're on your way to arrest the killer?"
"That's right." Kunikida confirmed.
The driver faced the front of the car, "Then we should probably hurry," Well, that much was obvious. Who knows if the killer had already taken another victim? They needed to get to the killer as quickly as possible so the number of murders doesn't go up anymore. "So what's our destination, sir?"
What came out of Kunikida's mouth was, "Right here," The driver made a noise of question, clearly confused. Hiromi even shot the man a puzzled stare. What did he mean the killer was here? The only people inside the car were him, her, Dazai, Atsushi, and the... Driver. Hiromi leaned back in her seat and stared at the driver, now understanding what Kunikida was implying. Kunikida continued, "The abductions happened here. You're the kidnapper. You subdued passengers with sleeping gas, and abducted them after they fell unconscious. You wore a gas mask to escape the effects."
It made sense. He was the one who took them to the abandoned hospital and he waited out there the whole time for them to come back. He could have easily snuck inside and set off the gas that killed the people inside. One thing that Hiromi found a little tricky was Sasaki. He wouldn't have had time to get inside and start filling up the tank. The tank wouldn't have been as full as it was. Maybe he did all of that before coming to get them the first time.
"Why would he go through all that trouble?" Atsushi inquired.
"I can think of one reason," Dazai stated. Atsushi turned to him in interest. "Merchandise."
