Evening and Winter (夕方と冬)

Epilogue

A month have passed since the day of Chifuyu's sudden death, classified to be a natural death by the autopsy, where damages to his immune system and nervous system were also diagnosed. He was buried in a cemetery, the same cemetery where Nenemiya Hiwa, Eve's mother and Taylor's wife was buried at.

"I haven't even forgiven you for giving me a panic attack, and now you're just giving more reasons not to forgive you... you're such a jerk... To be honest, it's plenty quiet without you around to cause chaos and arguments... I'm glad you're at piece, Tsuguha. Thanks a lot for keeping me company," were what Jeffrey first said when he visited Chifuyu's grave, "I never wanted to admit it to a jerk like you, but... I've been lonely all my life, ignored by my family and other people. You were the first friend I ever had and I never felt lonesome since, I also have others thanks to you." He placed down flowers near the tomb.

"You might not be listening to me, since you're so high and mighty." He smiled, "I'll come again, but expect nothing next time, okay?" he added as he walked away.

All of his comrades were affected by his death, yet they know Chifuyu would hate to see them weep for him further, which is the reason why Chifuyu hid his illness to begin with. He left a deep impression on his comrades without him knowing, all of them remember him as that cunning and mischievous Japanese fellow with strength and no fear, yet also considerate and kind.

"Hey, Fuyuchi. How've you been?" Lucas arrived and sat in front of his tomb, "I finally mastered using chopsticks, aren't you proud of me~?" he grinned, but slowly turned into a small smile.

"You've done so much for me and many other people, you're the coolest... I hope I can be as cool as you," he said, "I gotta scram now, there're things I have to take care of back at the orphanage. À bientôt, buddy." He added as he stood up, before jogging away.

When Lucas decided to explore Chifuyu's residence once again, it came to him that his friend has been living so long in loneliness. His residence was dim and silent, only filled with the memories left behind by his family. Whenever Lucas sees Chifuyu's smile, it always appeared mischievous and captivating. Yet it's so sad whenever he remembers that smile of Chifuyu's now, a mask in the form of a smile created from his will to not put his problems on others. Lucas never knew much about his friend, the guy doesn't even own a journal, he was just that kind of person... who keeps everything locked up inside of him, a life that will remain a mystery, as enigmatic as the person himself.

Chifuyu's identity as The Alabaster and cooperation with the Paris Police, the young man behind the spiked number of solved cases and the close of The Reaper's crimes were disclosed to the public, making his name very hard to forget. The last puzzle Chifuyu left as The Alabaster was solved by Taylor; from the locations where the stolen items were hidden and the instructions left on the clues, Taylor connected the dots of locations on a map and Japanese characters were the results from connecting the dots.

"What does it say, sir?" Jeffrey asked Taylor, who seemed stunned. Taylor is able to read a few Japanese, and it was written easily and clearly enough for Taylor to read and understand the message.

"'Mata ne, orokamono'... As in 'so long, suckers'..." Taylor smiled as he spoke aloud the meaning of the Japanese characters, it has been a while since he spoke Japanese. "You definitely ended your career in style, huh, Chifuyu?" he could imagine Chifuyu's mischievous grin by closing his eyes.

Then there's Hannah and her daughter, who Chifuyu gave the map to Adam's grave. It was overwhelming for Hannah when she stepped onto the top of the hill with her daughter, in front of her was her husband's grave. But she burst into when she noticed Chifuyu had buried her husband on the hill where her husband took her for their honeymoon 3 years ago, before he left and never returned. Chifuyu's smile when he handed her the map to the location glimpsed again in her head, his warm smile triggers her tears whenever she remembered it, the smile of the boy showed how much her husband meant to him. The fact that he chose the hilltop made Hannah more heartbroken, she knew that Adam was close with Chifuyu, but she never once stopped to imagine what he went through after having no choice but to leave her husband behind.

Eve definitely felt the difference when there was no longer someone knocking to hang out with her, by her door but mostly by her window. Maru was kept in her room, has been in her care since Chifuyu was hospitalized and now in her care permanently, becoming that one thing that constantly reminds her of the young man.

"From our very first encounter, he was charismatic and enigmatic. But then, there's so much to him to discover... Chifuyu-kun the rest of his life in Paris knowing he's on his own, knowing that nobody would come to help him." Eve remembered the day Chifuyu first broke into her room at night, "It started from that evening...and it ended in winter..." she smiled when gazing out her window, to the white snow outside.

"Au revoir, et merci."

THE END