Trigger Locked: The Mind Control Assassins

Epilogue

"Thank you," Shiori says to me. I look at her with a puzzled look. "For what?" She shrugs when I ask her that. "Everything you do for me. And that includes setting me free." Setting her free? I still look confused when Shiori tells me that. "What I mean by that," she says, "It's for setting me free from those tortures. I can only do this with your help. So, please don't blame yourself. I just want you to live a happy life." Shiori parts her way after she says that.

Shiori appears in my dream once again a few weeks after her death. I cry as I wake up from the dream. I don't even know that she always wishes that she will be free from the misery. We took charge of her funeral since she didn't have a family. She always told me that she wished to have a family like mine, so we've decided to take charge of the funeral for her. Even dad was okay with this because he also treated Shiori like his own daughter. This was the least we could do for her. It wasn't much, but I hope that she was okay with this.

I just move along with my usual life. I may look okay on the outside, but my heart is trembling in sorrow. It's hard for me to go on with my life. It feels like Shiori's death is only yesterday. Even a few weeks after her funeral, I still go to the graveyard to visit her grave. "You're going there again?" Yuuto asks me. I nod my head without saying anything to him. He also doesn't say anything back to me. And he goes home without me after that.

As I reach Shiori's grave, I begin to offer a silent prayer for her. During her funeral, only close friends and family were attending her funeral. We didn't disclose her funeral and even her grave to her fans. We don't want strangers to come and visit her. We don't know what they're planning to do if they come here. Maybe they throw rubbish at her grave. Or maybe they scribble nasty words on her grave. Sure, they don't necessary have any ill intention. But we're just being cautious here.

There are so many things running through my mind as I stand right in front of her grave. I still remember vividly how she died right in front of me. Just like Shinya Fukuyama's death, her death was also related to Satoru Yuuya. So, the police declared their death as a suicide just to hide their actual cause of death. People who knew Shiori found it hard to believe that someone like her would commit suicide. It felt surreal to them.

I understand their feeling. But we couldn't disclose her real cause of death for confidential reason. Even if we could, it was still obvious that she died because she shot herself in the head. Besides her death, everyone was also surprised with Shinya Fukuyama's death. They felt weird that both of them died at the same time. Even worse, their cause of death was similar.

Because of this, there was a rumor going on in Tako Forum. According to the rumor, Shiori was Shinya Fukuyama's secret lover. Maybe there was a tension in their relationship which prompted him to kill her. They were saying that the tension occurred because she wanted their relationship to be public. But Shinya Fukuyama refused. In the end, he killed her and disguised her death as a suicide. After he killed her, he committed suicide.

Of course, many of her fans backlashed the rumor. They felt that the rumor was rather absurd. They knew that Shiori had never dated anyone. And Shinya Fukuyama had only paid attention to her when she got a major debut. Other than that, there was no evidence that pointed out their secret relationship. Even Mr. Nishikawa debunked that the rumor was not true at all. I was grateful to Mr. Nishikawa for clearing Shiori's name from this rumor.

As for Shinya Fukuyama, he was already dead before he fell down from the agency building. We suspected that Satoru Yuuya was the one who killed him. Based on the autopsy report, there was a choking mark on his neck. So, we assumed that Satoru Yuuya must be the one who choked him. It was possible for him to do it because of his superhuman strength.