They Are Each Other's Family

Chapter 24: Religion and Confessions

Shuichi's point of view

Today is Halloween. This was Kaede's favorite Holiday. "Was" being the key word. No better way to spend a Halloween, then apprehending Maki. I need her to confess out loud. It'll be an upheld battle, but I need this.

She lives at Towa Hills with Hajime and the Warriors of Hope. When Komaru ended the reign of the WOH, they gave up on trying to take over the world. Nontheless, that still does not stop them from not liking adults. Well, almost every adult.

They kidnapped Hajime one day to be their servant, since Nagito left them after their reign. Instead of being their slave, he grew close with those kids. He is basically like their father now. Chiaki is his girlfriend, so she is basically their mother.

Maki moved in with them after she had no where else to go. Not only that, but she can take residence there rent free. Why doesn't she live with Kaito if they're together? The answer is because there is not enough room in his house for more people. I moved out of my house, and moved in with Kaito the first chance I got. Even if there was enough room in his one story house, she wouldn't live there since I'm there.

Hajime and Chiaki took the kids out Trick or Treating, so Maki is the only one home. I pull up in my small Suburu and ring the bell. Someone answered the door, but it wasn't Maki.

"Here you go, kiddies- wait, Brother Shuichi, you're not a little kid," Tenko is surprised.

"Tenko, what are you doing here?" I ponder.

"Maki didn't want to give candy to the kids; as a result, she called Tenko to hand out candies. Tenko loves children," she explained.

"You know, you don't have to do everything people ask you," I state.

"But Tenko wants to. A-Anyway, come in," Tenko lets me in.

I walk in the house. What a nice place. Before I search for Maki, I take a rest on the big comfy couch Hajime has in his living room.

"S-Since there are no little ones at the door at the moment, Tenko made us some tea," Tenko gives me a cup.

"You didn't have to, but thank you," I show my thanks.

"You are such a mom," I chuckle.

"Tenko will take that as a compliment. But hey, Shuichi... Tenko has been longing to speak to you."

"Yeah?" I look at her, as I take a sip.

"T-Tenko is very sorry about Kaede... she knows you two were very close. Tenko knows what this is like. T-Tenko... gave up her life before to protect Himiko. More importantly, she wanted to protect all of you," tears start running down her cheek.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you did, and your sacrafice didn't go in vain. Thank you for saying that, and thank you for all that you've done for us," I say.

"Sorry... Tenko needs a moment," she looks down.

I place my hand in hers. She looks back to me. She places hers in mine as well. Tenko smiles back at me.

The moment did not last for too long, though. An alarm goes off on Tenko's watch. She looks down at it to shut the alarm off.

"Well, it's time already? Time to pray," she takes out a matt and a hiijab from her backpack.

She puts the hiijab on and rolls out the matt. She then goes into a bowing posistion, while looking at the floor.

"In the name of Allah. The Gracious, the Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. The Gracious, the Most Merciful. Master of the day of Judgement. It is You, we worship, and upon You we call for help. Guide us to the straight path. The path of those You have blessed, not of those against whom there is anger, nor of those who are misguided," she prayed.

She stands back up. She then takes out the Holy Qu'ran.

"Tenko, is a Muslim, follower of Islam. Tenko is very religious," Tenko proudly states.

"Interesting! I did not know that. I've done things I'm not proud of, so I'd like to know your holiness one day. In the meantime, do you know where Maki is?" I wanna know.

"If Tenko remembers correctly, Maki should be on the 50th floor."

"The 50th floor? Man, she really made an effort to avoid people," I mutter.

I hug Tenko and pursue my journey to the 50th floor of Towa Hills. This is by far the tallest building in the city. Good thing elevators exsist.

Tenko is someone who really cares about other people. She left that "degenerate male" phase behind. That was a fluke, anyway. When we were held up at the academy, each of us had backstories created for us. Some true, while some were false like Tenko's case. See, she is really a fourteen-year-old Reserve Course Student. Her Dad is Mr. Hya, the high school math teacher of Hope's Peak. His real name is Yoshi Chabashira, but goes by "Mr. Hya", because he got high from drugs in his youth. Anyway, because we had our memories earsed, a plethora of us didn't remember who we were until our memories got ressurected like some of our lives. Tenko is a very nice person.

The elevator brings me to floor fifty. I knock on a door, hoping it's her room. It has to be her room. There's a huge "KEEP OUT" sign on the door, after all.

She will not answer. Thus, time to get professional.

"Maki, it's me, Shuichi. I'm a detective, so I am allowed in," I make my presence known.

She opens the door. There was a sudden hit of cold air, when she propped the door open.

"What do you want?" She stares at me.

"Look, I just want to talk. If you're not gonna talk to me as detective, would it be easier to talk to me as a friend?"

"Fine, come in," she grants access for me to enter her room.

She doesn't have a bed. It's just a black mattress covered in white stains. Nope, I will only stand, then.

"Mikan gave me the mattress," Maki shared.

"Ah, that explains everything," I laugh on the inside.

She sits on the bed. She cleans her dentures, then puts them back in.

"I know... I killed her and her family," Maki confessed.

"But please don't say anything. It's a long story," she added.

"This better be good," I say.

"I... had a friend... who you saw in the videos. I knew she was too soft to be an assassin, so I accepted the posistion. A year later... she was killed in a car accident while protecting a little girl. I was abused as a child, then I lose her. It was then I knew I needed others to feel my pain. Someone who was paid to kill, now kills for fun. I needed others to feel broken like I did. Hana was my whole world, and without her... I felt empty. I had nothing to live for anymore. She loved me. Her positive energy and never give up attitude is what I saw in Kaito. He is her to me... because of that, I kept him around. I'm sorry, Shuichi. Now you guys are gonna torture me, pitchfork me, boil me, whatever you want to me. I am a monster on the outside and inside," she told me the reasoning behind her violent actions.

I stare in silence. I do not know what to say. Did I mention I was gonna secretly tape her confession to bring her in? But after hearing this, turning her in would make me the monster. I cannot do that.

"I have to follow the law, but there is a grey area within the law. This is apart of the law that truly requires self judgement. There are reasons behind everything everyone does, and in your own way, you wanted empathy from people. I am not going to arrest you. I forgive you, Maki. You are one of my closest friends. I cannot and will not hurt you," I smile for the first time in a long time.

She falls into my arms, crying. Her tears dry on my vest. I gently place her in a hug. I cradle her a bit. I know Kaede is looking down happy. I need some of that God energy from Tenko right now. My sins need to be heard and dearly forgiven.

"Thank you..." she snorts.

"Of course, Maki," I continue to share the hug.