The Case of the New Cyclops Serial Killings

by Majesty_Clark

Summary:

Murder victims having their right eyes removed before death. Their corpses put on display like morbid art projects. He was going to find who did this to him and they would regret it.

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Also known as special agent Sukuna Itadori investigates a string of murders similar to a case from six years ago while also dealing with his nephew. Heavily based off the game Ai: The Somnium Files. You don’t need to play the game to understand this and it probably will add to the mystery if you don’t know the game.

2/23/2025 Edit: Summary has been changed due to plot developments. :)

Chapter 1: November 1st, 2019 – 10:54 PM - Bloom Park

Notes:

Tw corpse + descriptions of wounds

This is a murder scene that they're looking at so the description of the corpse and its wounds is kinda necessary. It's not really something you can skip over since it's relevant to the plot as a whole.

Also! One thing to note that I will not be explaining in the actual text is that Sukuna's right eye has been replaced by an Ai-Ball. An Ai-Ball is an artificial eye that houses an autonomous artificial intelligence that assists their detective in solving cases through both critical thinking & functioning as a super computer. The Ai's all have distinct personalities and can communicate with the person they're implanted into easily. Sukuna's Ai companion here is Uraume which I've shortened to just Ume as that was a name they came up with for themself here. They've been partners for the past 15 years. Any red text you see is Sukuna and any blue text is Urame (Ume) talking internally to each other. Also, just wanted to add on that Sukuna's left eye color is gold brown and the right eye (the artificial one) is blue.

The rain continued its steady downpour over the foreclosed Bloom Park. The ferris wheel, roller coasters, and all the other attractions halted for years on end. Rust having appeared on them over the six years of closure. The carousel, one of its most popular rides back in its height of activity, and its surrounding seating area was closed off via red holographic police tape. A small team of forensics near the entrance to the ride as they worked against the rain to document the corpse currently tied to one of the carrousel horses. Two individuals observing the investigation stood nearby under their own umbrellas. One had long blond hair and the other a dark pink that was swept back away from his face. The latter having just arrived at the scene not too long before.

“Any suspects?” Sukuna asked as he swept his gaze over the scene.

“Not yet. It’s still too early,” Yuki answered “But we could be looking at a copycat killer.”

“You do realize my job usually doesn’t involve inspecting dead bodies.”

“No, but you did know her. I figured I’d let you in on it now before you decided it was your case without me.” She gave a wink at him which Sukuna was going to pretend he didn’t see. There was only so much he could take in around him with the worn-down carousel, the beat-up outdoor tables, and somehow a few of the carousel horses had been removed from the ride and stuck upside down by their poles in the soil of the rectangular rows of overgrown greenery nearby.

This is unrelated to the case. The park was already like this before the crime. My best guess is that these are the results of a ‘teenage prank.’

That’s some pretty determined kids.

All that was left was to look at the dead body. He took three steps forward and was promptly stopped by one of the forensics. An apologetic look crossing their face asking that he didn’t step any further towards the carousel since they hadn’t taken any footprints yet. How had they not done that yet? The forensic was sweating as he was looked down on by Sukuna, but he didn't budge on the matter. Gutsy. Sukuna rolled his eyes as he returned to his spot by Yuki.

Ume?

A feel of acknowledgement passed through to Sukuna as his vision zoomed in on the body. The body’s face was slack as it was seated on the horse in a slumped forward position from where her arms were tied behind the carousel pole. A trail of blood down her empty right eye socket. Dried blood now a rusty brown covering her blue blouse. Chin length black hair falling forward over the right side of her face and strands falling out from where it was tucked behind her left.

I am detecting increased levels of cortisol and ACTH in your body. It appears you are upset.

That’s one way to put it. Let’s start from the top.

Agreed. The victim’s name is Kaori Nadami. Female. She was 40 years old and the head of a successful investment fund. Cause of death: blood loss from multiple puncture wounds to the front of the torso. Body temperature and rigor mortis indicate the time of death was approximately six hours ago. That would place the crime occurring around 5:00PM.

There’s no rips or tears surrounding the wounds on the torso. The weapon was probably something pointed and smooth, like an ice pick.

The feeling of agreement passed over him from the Ai on his conjecture.

The victim’s arms are tied behind her back with rope. The same rope wraps around her body and the pole directly behind her. The victim’s right eye has been removed antemortem. Most likely by the killer or killers themselves.

You’re sure on that? An animal could have plucked it out and ran off with it given how long the corpse was here before it was reported.

Impossible. The amount of blood lost points to the eye being removed while Kaori was still alive.

The zoomed in image of Kaori’s body snapped back to Sukuna’s regular vision at the singular loud thump against metal in the rainy park. The other cops looking around trying to locate where the sound came from. It hadn’t been from behind. Sukuna eyes roamed over the scenery.

It came from the central column.

The central column of the carousel hadn’t changed from when they’d arrived. Vision zooming in once again and a teal layer of color washing over to reveal the inside of the column. A figure, human, was hunched over on the ground.

“There’s someone in the carousel’s central column,” Sukuna passed on the info.

“Are they alive?” Yuki asked from beside him.

The teal blurred for a moment. Blue showing up on a majority of the infrared. The figure was tinged in blue on the edges going to green, yellow, and orange near their center.

“Looks like it.” His vision returning to normal once more.

Yuki inclined her head to the forensics, “Get the footprints now. We need to get closer to the scene.”

The skittish officer attempted to plead some more time for them to work to which Yuki said they have five minutes. That lit a fire under them and ten minutes later they suddenly had taken the footprints. Funny how that works. The old wood of the attraction groaned at the added weight from the two detectives. The door to the central column had a mirror on the outside of it along with a small door knob and manual lock. Sukuna raised a closed fist, looked to Yuki, who gave a nod, and banged the side of his fist against the wooden part of the door twice.

“We know you’re in there. Come out and this won’t get messy.”

There was no acknowledgement from the inside occupant. Once it was clear that there would be none at all, Yuki reached for the handle with a gloved hand and Sukuna unholstered his gun checking the revolver was loaded with stun rounds. The door knob didn’t budge at Yuki’s initial turn of it. She twisted the manual lock and tried it once more meeting no resistance as she opened the door outward. Sukuna had his gun pointed and the next sentence on his tongue ready as always for the cowards that hid at the crime scenes but it fizzled out completely.

“Yuuji?” The crouched over figure in a dull yellow hoodie and light pink hair looked up, not at the door, but at Sukuna at the call of his name. Dull brown eyes meeting his but not really seeing anyone. Clutching the most damning evidence of all. An ice pick covered in crimson from the tip to the base. Sukuna lowered the revolver to aim at the floor. Still ready to shoot if need be. Sternness coming to him naturally as he addressed his nephew, “Drop it.”

The bloody weapon plinked against the floor. The teen staring off somewhere over his empty, twitchy hands. Sukuna put the safety back on as he holstered his own weapon and breached the distance between them. He crouched down to his level grabbed under his arms and in one swoop pulled his nephew to his feet. Sukuna didn’t let go as he slowly ushered him out of the enclosed space.

Block his view of Kaori.

Right.

Sukuna brought one hand to the back of Yuuji ‘s neck to keep him looking downward even though the detective’s body was blocking the corpse behind him. The forensic team descended on the previously occupied space. “Yuuji.” The teen didn’t react this time. Didn’t even give an indication that he’d heard him. “Brat-“ The teen’s full weight would have crashed into the floorboards if it hadn’t been for Sukuna catching him. The detective blew out a breath before hefting his passed-out nephew up and over his shoulder.

Yuki eyed him as he walked past and said, “Call me if anything comes up.”

“Taking him to Central?”

“Where else would I take him?” a veil of annoyance having slipped through in his response. The light drizzle coming down gently as they walked towards the gates.

“Alright alright. Call you later~”

The cheap holographic police tape that encircled the perimeter doing nothing but be a flashy display as he passed through it. The car near the edge of the other police cars that had shown up quietly beeped. Sukuna pulled open the back seat and carefully hefted Yuuji into it. Reaching over the comatose teen to click his seat belt in for him like he was a little kid again. An over excited brat somehow eager for what Jin called ‘a day out with Uncle Sukuna.’ It was hard to see that same kid with how much he’d grown up from then.

“Why were you here, brat?”

There was no answer as said brat kept softly breathing. Not that he’d expected one. Sukuna closed the car door and opened the driver’s side. The engine purred and he was pulling out of the lot straight for Central Hospital.

Call Jin.

Ume established a connection to his phone and pulled up the ringing touch screen in the corner of his right eye. The call rang and rang.

‘Hello! You’ve reached the voicemail of Jin Itadori. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!’

Sukuna rubbed the side of his brow at the cheery voice recording. The line beeped after the message was done. “Hey, it’s me. I have something important to tell you when you get a minute. Call me back.” The little touch screen in the corner of his eye disappeared as the call ended. Sukuna took a glance in the rear-view mirror. Yuuji still passed out and not having moved from where he’d been deposited. His eyes returned to the road ahead as the unrelenting drizzle followed them.

Notes:

As with all my video game inspired AU's, this is updated at my own pace. I will write as long as I am willing. I will do my best with editing but there will likely be mistakes. My main goal is that I don't end up contradicting myself anywhere.

Why is Yuki here you're asking? Because I like her and I wanted her to be involved. I considered having Gojo but decided against it cause I love her. He will get some references later though. You'll find out later but she's Sukuna's boss for what he does.

Chapter 2: November 2nd, 2019 - 7:23 AM - Central Hospital

The sterile scent of the hospital room was the first thing to hit him. Sukuna stretched his arms overhead as he fully woke up. A few pops of his neck confirming he’d slept upright in the semi-plush chair. The singular room containing only him and the occupied bed. The heart monitor still at a steady rhythm with its sleeping occupant. The IV drip still in place on Yuuji’s arm. Despite the brat having a weird aversion to needles, he hadn’t even woken up when they attached it.

Sukuna dragged a hand over his face. Glancing at the clock on the far wall. The walk out into the hallway helping to get the blood flowing in his stiff legs. The coffee from the cafeteria was disgusting but it did what he wanted so it was a small sacrifice he was willing to make. The brisk air of autumn shaking off the last bits of drowsiness as he stepped out the entrance and found a bench not too far off. He pulled out his phone to be greeted with a missed call from Yuki and a corresponding voicemail from her. No other messages or calls.

He dialed the number he knew by heart. Greeted once again with a long series of rings trying to establish a connection.

‘Hello! You’ve reached the voicemail of Jin Itadori. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!’

Sukuna’s eye twitched at the usual voice recording he rarely heard. A final beep played after the message ended. “Hey. It’s important. Call me.” He tucked his phone away, throwing an arm across the back of the bench as he stared up at the dreary sky. It wasn’t supposed to rain today. Some part of him acknowledging the people coming in and out of the hospital and the tread of cars on pavement in the lot out ahead.

I’ll let you know when he calls.

Sukuna brought his focus back out of his mind. He’d deal with Yuki’s message later. Ume would have told him otherwise if it was urgent.

Thanks.

With that he pushed himself up off the bench. Starting the trudge back inside to play the waiting game at his nephew’s bedside.

Notes:

Let me know if the colored text is hard to read. I can make it darker or lighter, but I think I picked some good colors to work with.

Chapter 3: November 2nd, 2019 – 9:41AM - Police Headquarters

Notes:

Tw eye dislodging?

Uraume (Ume) dislodges themself from Sukuna's eye socket to talk out loud with Yuki & Sukuna. Nothing bloody or gory, but in case you wanted a warning. It's right after Ume says that they want to tell Yuki & Sukuna some information they found.

Very dialogue heavy. Lots of important info for the case.

Six stories below Police Headquarters in the Chiyoda District was where Yuki’s office was located. With it so far underground and no windows to let light in it was almost necessary to overtly decorate so the place didn’t feel suffocating. Which is what she took to heart with colored streamers, an ornate rug, dozens of posters covering the walls, and anything she thought would ‘liven up the place’ thrown in there on any available surface. Said boss of ABIS finally caught on that he was inside her office as he bee lined for one of the chairs she had set up across her paper work filled desk. If there was one thing he’d give her credit for it, these chairs were incredibly comfortable to an almost intentional degree. She was infamous for her interrogations after all.

“How’s Yuuji?”

“He hasn’t said a word,” Sukuna settled down as she got up, “Doctor’s say he’s traumatized.” Yuki rounded her desk and plopped herself on it crossing her legs. “He’s seeing a specialist now.”

“Did you stay with him all night?” Sukuna gave no response which lead to Yuki’s smile creeping into her voice, “Aw, what a good uncle.”

Sidestepping the obvious goading he went to business. “Did you have any leads? The ice pick?”

Yuki looked off in thought, “We were able to identify the manufacturer, but” she shook her head, “it’s sold nationwide. There’s no way we’d be able to identify the buyer.” Of course it is. “We were able to determine that the shape of the pick and puncture wounds on the victim match perfectly. Forensics also identified that the blood on the pick is the victim’s.”

“Which means the ice pick was definitely the murder weapon.”

Yuki nodded, “My thoughts as well.” Her expression turned solemn, “The only prints we found on it are Yuuji’s. The evidence is staking up against him.”

“As if he could do it.”

“He’s certainly physically capable of doing it.”

“The brat wouldn’t.”

“Well, that’s your job to prove. Isn’t it detective?”

Maybe a switch in topic is in order?

Sukuna latched onto that thought. There was something else he wanted to ask. “Have you picked up Jin yet?”

“He’s at a police station nearby being interviewed. He’s not a suspect yet. We did have him identify the victim’s body.”

God damn it. His brother was either a complete mess or compartmentalizing the shit out of that information. Either way, Jin was going to find someway to blame himself for it. He’s always been like this. For better or worse.

“Were you able to contact him?”

Sukuna glanced up at Yuki; trying to relax the grip he had on one of the arm rests. “No. I called him last night and this morning. He didn’t pick up either time.”

“Hmm. Local police tried his phone too but they got the same result. No one could get a hold of him until this morning.”

A creeping feeling of unease crawled over his shoulder. Jin had to have known something was up if both the police and Sukuna were calling him. It would have been easier if he’d answered him. Sukuna could have explained the situation.

“By the way,” Yuki switched the legs she had crossed over each other, “Forget about what I said about it being a copycat killer.”

“Why the sudden change? You were confident on it last night.”

“I went over the details on the case again and realized some things don’t add up. So it’d be best if you treat them as separate cases.”

She is of course referring to the ‘Cyclops Serial Killings’ case from six years ago. Investigated by Satoru Gojo and ultimately considered a ‘cold case’ after the string of murders stopped abruptly. They never apprehended the killer.

Sukuna tilted his head, “Was the M.O. different?”

“Yup. The victim’s had been all young women. The oldest had been twenty-four.” She waved the remnants of the case away, “You weren’t on that case so I want you to have fresh eyes on the current one.”

“They could still be related, but the only way we’ll know is if more bodies show up.”

“Let’s try to clear this up before it comes to that.”

Sukuna sat up a bit further ready to end the conversation. “Anything else?”

Yuki leaned back and ruffled a few pages before leaning forward again. A picture of Kaori held out to him. It looked like one of her professional ones for work. “You’ll need this while you’re out getting information.” He could use his phone to pull up a picture of her, but having an actual physical photo made a world of a difference. Made it feel a little more real to those being questioned. “We also have some more information on Kaori up on the database. Not that its anything you don’t already know.”

“We were acquaintances at best,” he responded back, “I haven’t seen her in over two years.”

I have the relevant information pulled up if you’d like to hear it.

“Go for it.”

For brevities sake I will skim information we are already aware of. Kaori Nadami. 40 years old. Female. Residence: Meguro District. She was married 16 years ago to Jin Itadori and subsequently divorced eight years ago. She returned to using her maiden name after the divorce. They had one child together: Yuuji Itadori. The prime suspect of this case.

Hmm.

Officially, Yuuji is listed as currently living at Jin’s home. But we both know that isn’t true.

So nothing we didn’t already know.

In fact, I did find something. I’d like to share it with both of you.

Sukuna leaned his head forward a bit and brought a hand up under his right eye. A soft click inside his eye socket indicating the eye had disconnected from the implanted nerve. Pressure of built up in his right eye socket that dissipated immediately as the eye pushed itself out into his waiting palm. The half white and half pink sphere idled before translucent fluid emerged from it molding itself into a ursine shape and a spike coming out from the pink half with two prongs along its sides acting as a spine of sorts. Sukuna sat up slowly as the vision from Ume was still being transmitted to his head despite them being disconnected.

Yuki’s smile turned to the new addition to their meeting, “Hello Ume!”

“Good morning, Yuki,” Ume greeted politely.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” she tilted her head at the Ai.

“I have determined who reported the crime.”

“You have?” Sukuna couldn’t contain his own surprise.

“Indeed. As we are already aware, local police received an anonymous phone call at 9:05PM reporting that they had heard screams from inside Bloom Park. I was able to locate the payphone that was used.” A small overhead view of a map of Bloom Park appeared in his right eye with a red dot pulsing red on a location. “It was near Bloom Park so I checked any nearby security cameras for any surveillance footage.”

“So you were able to get into those databases?” Yuki inquired.

“Correct. The area has little foot traffic and even less at night. There was only one person who appeared in that area at the same time of the report.” The overall map disappeared and a picture of a girl with short ginger hair appeared. “Nobara Kugisaki. 17 years old. Female. I have located her home address as well.”

That tracks. She’s also attends the same school as Yuuji and is one of the brat’s friends.

Yuki’s attention turned to him, “Sukuna?”

“Already on it.” The detective stood up bringing the displaced eye near his socket for Ume to get back in. They had a house call to make.

Notes:

Yes I did intentionally have Sukuna answer Ume out loud. He will be doing it again.

Chapter 4: November 2nd, 2019 – 10:38AM – Kugisaki Diner

Notes:

The best thing about using the game is that I can grab first names for characters and give them to characters that had none in JJK. Nobara's grandma gets a name here. *Throws confetti*

Located in the Higashioi District was the locally owned Kugisaki Diner. One of those old buildings that doubled as a store in the front and a home for the family in the back. The front doors were reminiscent of sliding partitions. The wood rattled along its track as Sukuna let himself in. Inside were a few tables with round stool chairs tucked in and a counter along the back with higher chairs tucked in along it. A swinging set of saloon doors separated the back of the counter from the dining area.

“We’re not open yet, sir.” An elderly woman with prominent wrinkles and either a missing or damaged right eye as it remained closed from where she met his gaze behind the counter. “You’ll have to come by later.”

The detective slid the screen shut behind him as he stepped in further. “I’m not a customer.” He pulled out his badge as he stepped closer to the counter. “I’m with the MPD. Is Nobara home?”

The woman’s eye widened before narrowing in an instance, “What has that girl gotten into now?!”

“I just need to ask her some questions,” keeping a diplomatic neutral inflection. “What’s your relation to Nobara?”

“I’m her grandmother.”

“And your name?”

The woman shook her head as if she was already tired of this conversation, “Mayumi Kugisaki.”

Sukuna briefly made a show of sweeping his gaze behind Mayumi, “Is she here?”

“That girl’s off somewhere else.” Mayumi giving him a heated glare. “She’s likely working at that… office building again.”

Sukuna let the glare glide over him. It came with the job. “Do you know when she’ll be home or where this office building is?”

“Who knows when she’ll be home. That girl is too strong willed for her own good.”

“And the building?” Don’t let this be one of those elderly persons that make his life hell to get basic info from.

“Where was it?” The woman mumbled to herself. “It’s a place she has no business being. Completely inappropriate for a girl her age.”

“Inappropriate how?” If it was that bad then why let her go wherever this place was?

“What was it… Oh!” Something lit up in the woman’s eye in recollection. “A production office. It’s an entertainment company - that’s what it was. She does something on the internet. She says its safe, but how can she be so sure?”

Do you think it might be…?

“Is the company called Lemniscate?” Sukuna inquired.

Mayumi snapped her fingers, “That’s the name! Lemniscate. That’s where she is.” She shook her head again, “Oh, what has she gotten herself into now.”

If Nobara works for Lemniscate she’s hardly doing anything inappropriate.

Agreed. Jin would not allow it.

“Thank you, ma’am. Before I go,” Sukuna slipped out the picture of Kaori and held it up for Mayumi to see, “Does this woman look familiar?”

The woman squinted at the picture for a moment. “No. I’ve never seen her before. Who is she?”

Sukuna tucked the photo away. “No one important. Don’t worry about it.” He made his way to the entrance after giving a final goodbye.

Do you have Nobara’s cellphone number?

Yes. I’ve already attempted to call it several times. There is no connection. Either the phone is off or she has no connection.

Damn. Guess we’ll have to hope she’s still there when we arrive.

Chapter 5: November 2nd, 2019 – 12:05PM – Lemniscate

Notes:

You can pinpoint the exact moment Sukuna switches from being a detective to being an uncle. It's great.

Also Tsumiki's mom gets a name too *throws confetti*

Lemniscate is just as brightly lit as ever with its shiny tiled floors and off-white-colored walls. Most of the furniture a hybrid modern and retro look that somehow made it fit in with the environment. Some plants dotted around for some greenery and alongside the far wall was promotional posters of the company’s hired talent and a TV cycling through that talent’s promotional content with the audio off. There was an abstract painting blue, orange and yellow painting that covered a majority of the right wall when you walked in through the sliding glass doors. The reception desk was white in a half oval shape with one person sitting behind it. The receptionist was a young woman with black hair pulled mostly into a ponytail with some pieces hanging loose to frame her face. Her expression read as ‘customer service’ but he’d seen enough people use that same look to hide the blatant fear of a guy like him stomping into their place of business. In a bid to not freak her out more, he didn’t pull out his badge just yet.

“I’m from the MPD. Is Nobara Kugisaki here?”

“And who is asking?” she didn’t even stutter. She couldn’t completely hide the tremors in her clasped hands.

He deliberately moved a bit slower for his pocket, ensuring she could see him pull out his badge and opened it up for her to see. “Sukuna Itadori. As I said, I’m with the MPD. I just need to ask her a few questions.”

“Oh,” the woman looked down at the badge, up to him, and then back at the badge. “Oh.” There were currently connections being made in her head from the looks of it. A glance at the pinned name tag on the printed floral of her work shirt read ‘Tsumiki.’ The young woman switched over to her monitor with some quick keystrokes. She moved and glanced over a few documents on her desk. Tsumiki stood up looking him straight in the eye with no trace of fear, “She’s doing a podcast that’ll be done in about twenty minutes. I can let her know you’re here.” She indicated over to the couches in the seating area. “Please, have a seat.”

Sukuna took up the couch furthest from the door that had a full view of the office. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back.

Ume-

I’ve already hacked into the surveillance cameras here. I will let you know when she arrives.

Ever prepared.

Sukuna could feel the small burst of pride from Ume at the praise. The twenty minutes were passed in peace. Ume gave some updates on the few people that passed through from the back where the recording studios were located.

She’s here. The Ai commented as he heard a door open. Sukuna counted two seconds before opening his eyes and snapping them over to the ginger haired teen pining her in place as alarm and discomfort warred for dominance in her expression. Tsumiki’s heels clacked against the pristine floor over the quiet pop music playing in the background. She whispered something to Nobara, who didn’t look away from Sukuna, and merely nodded. The receptionist looked his way and gave a small smile as she gave the teen a push forward. Sukuna unfolded himself as Nobara stiffly took the couch opposite of him.

“Nobara Kugisaki,” Sukuna held out his badge so she could read it, “I’m here to ask you some questions about last night.” Nobara glanced over the badge and her eyes widened slightly before averting them to the side. He tucked the badge away, “Were you the one who made the anonymous call about the screaming in Bloom Park last night at around 9PM?”

“Yeah,” Nobara forced out. “What of it?”

“Why’d you use a payphone? Didn’t want it traced to you?”

That alarm flared back up as she met his cool gaze, “No! I tried to use my phone, but,” she looked down, “my hands wouldn’t stop shaking and I couldn’t push the numbers right and I dropped my phone,” she grimaced, “…right into a puddle.”

The last recorded GPS signal from Nobara’s phone was inside Bloom Park last night at around the same time. She appears to be telling the truth.

“What’d you do after making the call?” Sukuna asked.

“I went home.”

“Why did you go to Bloom Park in the first place?”

“Yuuji called me last night. He-“ her eyebrows furrowed. “I couldn’t really tell over the phone, but when we met up he seemed really shaken up. I think he just didn’t want to go alone.”

Sukuna filed that information away for later. “When did he call you?”

“Uh,” she tilted her head to the side and recollection flashed in her eyes, “it was 8:10PM. I’m sure of it.”

“So it was Yuuji who wanted to go there?”

Nobara nodded.

“Do you know why?”

“He got a Nile message from someone saying to meet at the merry-go-round tonight. Uh, last night,” Nobara mumbled out.

“Who was it from?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“What happened next?”

“We met up and went over to Bloom Park together. There wasn’t anyone else around. We got to the merry-go-round and there-“ she cut herself off. A thin line of tension seeping in, “there was a body there. Some lady.”

Sukuna pulled out Kaori’s photo and presented it to her, “Is this her?”

Nobara grimaced again at the photo, “Yeah. That’s her.”

Sukuna put the picture away, “What do you remember from when you saw the body?”

“Um, it was on one of the horses. I think it was tied up? She was tied up? Ugh, and there was that screwdriver or something sticking out of her eye. The metal bit was reflecting off my flashlight. I can still see it.”

Sukuna interest was piqued at that reveal, “Which eye was it in?”

“The left- no it was her right eye socket.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah. I’m not forgetting that anytime soon.”

The ice pick was in Kaori’s right eye socket when Yuuji and Nobara arrived at the scene. Which means the brat pulled it out for some reason. The eye could have been on the other end of it too.

Possibly. We will need to confirm this later with Yuuji.

“And you went off to call the police then went home?”

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

“So you left him there all by himself?” barely reigning in his vitriol.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Nobara defended herself. “What was I supposed to do?!”

“Not go out when you know he has a curfew.” Sukuna sat back against the couch, “Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Nobara scoffed, “And let the idiot go by himself? As if.”

“Yet you left him there staring at a corpse for hours.” Someone with wild black hair had come into the office. They went for the front desk to drop off a plastic bag and Tsumiki had a bright smile waiting for them. He caught the new arrival’s eye as it turned his direction. Megumi Fushiguro. Another of the brat’s friends and headed their way.

“What?” Nobara sounded like the wind got knocked out of her.

“He’s lucky he didn’t get hypothermia.”

The brat’s black haired friend had stopped behind Nobara’s couch, “Is everyth-“

“Is he okay?” Nobara’s quick question cutting him off.

“Took you that long to ask?” Sukuna leaned into the exasperation, “He’s at Central Hospital.” Nobara bolted up with an almost manic energy. The detective got up at his own leisure, “Don’t bother. Only family can see him right now.”

Why are you lying?

We don’t have Yuuji’s testimony yet. I don’t want his friends muddling it up before we do.

“Is that why Yuuji isn’t answering his phone?” Megumi asked somewhere behind Sukuna as he walked away. There was another black-haired arrival at the front desk chatting with Tsumiki. Her hair came to her shoulders in a swooping fashion at the ends similar to the receptionists with a white hairband in place and her eyes crinkled in the corners like they always did. “Sukuna Itadori. Is that you?”

“No.” was his dry response as he made for the exit. He had almost made it before she closed the distance and grabbed his arm.

“Oh, don’t be like that! I just wanted to say hello. There’s no need to run off.”

“Let go.”

“Not until you say hello back.”

Even over 20 years later, his glare did nothing to make her retreat. It’s like she took it as a personal challenge to befriend the unbefriendable. Sukuna rolled his eyes, “Hello Hitomi.”

True to her word she let go. “Hello Sukuna. It’s good to see you.”

“Why are you here?” he knew the pattern. If he didn’t give her a little bit of small talk he’d pay for it. “This doesn’t really seem your scene. Or maybe you have changed that much.”

Her nose scrunched at the accusation and she swatted at his arm, “I was out on errands with my son and we were dropping off my daughter’s lunch.” His arm was going to be sore later. Hitomi was still way too strong for someone half his size. She tilted her head quizzically, “Do you have any kids of your own? You didn’t seem the type, but maybe you have changed.”

He lets her own accusation roll off of him. He glanced over at the couches with the two teens sitting on it with their backs facing them, “Does having a nephew count?”

“In a way!”

Sukuna turned back to her radiating expectancy, “Then yeah. I guess I do.”

Hitomi had that twinkle of untold knowledge in her eyes. Whatever it was she was never going to say it. That much he knew. She patted his arm, gently, and said, “I’ve tortured you enough. Get out of here.”

Sukuna waved behind him once he was free and called back, “Bye Hitomi.”

"Bye Sukuna!” followed him as the glass doors slid behind him.

Notes:

(Flashback to Eitoku High School)

Jin: Please excuse my brother. He's not very friendly.

Hitomi: Oh, I'm sure you're exaggerating. We'll be friends in no time.

Hitmoi: *Approaches Sukuna* Hello-

Sukuna: Fuck off.

Hitomi: You know, just because you said that we're not going to be friends. We're going to be Best Friends.

Sukuna: Like hell we-

Hitomi: This is non-negotiable.

-----

I know Ume is an Ai and so they're likely just able to recall information once its been recorded, but I like to think whenever they aren't talking they've got a notepad out and they're taking notes on what's happening.

Chapter 6: November 2nd, 2019 – 1:52PM – Bloom Park

Notes:

Lots of back and forth between Sukuna and Ume as they discuss the evidence they have so far.

The news had reported on Kaori’s murder which meant that everyone now had the bias of ‘I saw it on the news.’ It was bound to happen. Always did.

The park wasn’t nearly as gloomy looking during the day, but that wasn’t saying much when a dead body had been there last night. Police were still crawling over the scene of the crime. The holographic red police tape still projected around the perimeter. One of the officers let him through so he could examine said scene once more as it had been cut short last night. The footprints they had taken hadn’t been any help either. The rain had muddied them up too much by the time they were taken that the results had too many variances in them. Other than that, forensics didn’t find any other clues or leads. No fingerprints. No strands of hair. Nothing.

Sukuna went straight to the carousel column. Pulling on some gloves on the off chance he ended up touching something on accident. The door was still open and forensics hadn’t found anything else within it. He walked around inside it and confirmed there was only one door that led outside of the column. The inside had a door knob but no lock. The only lock was on the outside.

Yuuji was locked inside the column by someone else. He couldn’t have done it himself. Potentially by Nobara, but not likely.

Ume passed on their agreement. Are we forgoing the possibility that Yuuji is the killer?

Not completely. But too much evidence is suggesting this could have been a set-up for him to take the fall.

Then I would say the person who locked him inside the column was most likely the killer. The fact that the body had been on display means they had no intention of hiding their crime. Or rather it appears as if it was displayed deliberately.

They wanted the attention.

Or they are attempting to send some kind of message.

Speaking of, have you looked into that NILE message Yuuji received?

I’ve already begun digging into NILE’s database to retrieve it. I will let you know once I have it.

Sukuna turned his attention away from the column and over to the horse where the body had been. The corpse having long been taken away. He circled it once, scanning the entire surface of it.

Ume. Bring up the earliest recorded images of the scene of the crime. His right eye brought up the image from the night before of Kaori’s corpse tied up to the carousel horse. Roaming over the horse itself to confirm his initial thought. Kaori died of blood loss from multiple stab wounds from the ice pick. There should have been plenty of blood, but there isn’t a single drop on the horse.

Agreed. There are also no signs of blood being wiped or washed off either.

That means Kaori was killed elsewhere and brought here.

That seems the most likely conclusion.

The image dissipated to his regular field of vision. There was nothing else at the scene he hadn’t seen already. The roaming cops didn’t have any updates for him either.

Ume. Give me a timeline of the events of the crime so far.

The feeling of acknowledgement passed over him as a timeline came into view in his right eye.

          [FRIDAY (YESTERDAY)]

       Approx. 5:00PM: Kaori’s TOD

       Approx. --:--PM: Yuuji receives a NILE message. Unknown sender. Request to come to Bloom Park.

       Approx. 8:10PM: Yuuji calls Nobara. Asks her to accompany him to Bloom Park.

       Approx. 9:00PM: Yuuji and Nobara discover Kaori’s corpse.

       Approx. 9:05PM: Nobara reports the crime via payphone.

       Approx. 9:30PM: First responders arrive on scene, discover Kaori’s corpse.

       Approx. 10:50PM: Sukuna arrives at the scene.

The only thing that held any potential was that NILE message. Who would have sent him that message?

Probably the culprit themselves.

But Yuuji wouldn’t follow the instructions of a complete stranger. He’s not that stupid.

Then Yuuji knew the sender. Or the suspect used his friend’s phone.

That’s what I’m thinking too.

Still that didn’t give them a lot to work with. Until they had something new there wasn’t much else that could be done. Sukuna. “Hmm?” I suggest we take a break for a moment. I’m certain I will have the message decoded within the next hour or two. In the mean time you can return home. Sukuna grunted at the prospect. The only other thing they could do was get Yuuji’s testimony, but he wanted that message first before that. He made his way for his car past the holographic tape with the plan to go home for a bit, then stop by the hospital once the message was decoded, and then back to HQ.

Chapter 7: November 2nd, 2019 – Sukuna Residence

Notes:

There is no time listed in the title b/c at this point of the game they did not really specify the time either and while I could have put a concrete time here it felt weird to do so. So I did not.

The first thing Sukuna did when he got through the front door was the same as he usual. Dropped his keys off in the bowl on a shelf nearby, slipped out of his shoes, and took Ume out of his eye socket onto the charging adapter for them in the living room. He had the chargers pretty much everywhere in the house. It let Ume fully dedicate their processing power to their tasks without having to balance it with their power consumption. Sukuna had them cut off the input for his right eye while they did this. Another way to dedicate their processing power and it left Sukuna able to go about his business without getting vertigo from the wildly different perspectives clashing. He ate something from the fridge, some left overs they had, and returned to the living room couch to catch up on some sleep. He must have fell asleep at some point, but there were no dreams to be had. The next moment he was opening his eyes to Ume saying they had new information for him. Sukuna stood up and stretched out his back. He fixed Dad’s old blanket across the back of the couch that had slouched down somewhat.

“What did you find?” he asked as he padded over to towards the front door.

“I checked the surveillance cameras around Bloom Park again,” Ume’s slightly metallic echoed after him. “I noticed something strange. There were no cars.” Sukuna looked to the shoe rack and the bowl with his keys in it noting the missing sets that had his brow furrowing thinking back on if Yuuji had left a note on where he was going before the realization hit him and struck him out of his usual routine. Sukuna emerged out into the living room once more as Ume continued, “Yesterday, in the parking lot and the streets in the vicinity, there was not a single vehicle.”

“You’re sure?” Sukuna leaned against the wall next to where the Ai was charging on the small cabinet.

“I am.”

“Then how did they move the corpse?”

There was a stretch of silence between them. Ume answered, “I have no idea.”

Sukuna let out a sigh. “Add it to the other dead ends we have piled up. Anything else?”

That silence stretched on again, but it was different this time. Charged with a creeping apprehension that wasn’t his own. It was Ume’s.

“I have decoded the NILE message Yuuji received.” They paused once more before adding, “Could you sit down? I would prefer if you did.”

An odd request but hardly worth arguing over. Sukuna settled down in the arm chair nearby. The one next to the window that had the perfect stream of light coming in on sunny days.

“Can you promise we will discuss this before doing anything further?”

Sukuna raised an eyebrow, “Show me the message Ume.”

“Promise me and I will. “

They were being more forthright than usual. Again, not worth fighting over. They were going to discuss it regardless. “Alright I promise. Now show me it.”

Vision in his right eye reestablished and transmitted to his brain at a different angle of the room, where Ume was still charging. “It was from Jin.” A chat log history pulled up in his right eye.

          [NILE CHAT HISTORY – 01/11/2019]

       [8:05PM] Dad: Yuuji, Daddy got caught in something serious. Please come to Bloom Park's merry-go-round right away. Daddy needs your help. Please, do as I say.

Sukuna kept reading the message over and over. That well hidden anger he’d taken years to tuck away and find it in himself to forgive his brother rearing its ugly head. He didn’t even bother trying to stop it from flowing into his veins. His voice was searingly calm, “Call Jin.”

“No. We need to-“

“We need to call my fucking brother.” Sukuna spat out as he twisted and wrenched out his own phone to dial Jin’s number. The lock screen refused to open and the screen was nonresponsive to other inputs. Ume was keeping him out.

“No, Sukuna. We’re going to talk about this first.”

The detective stood up throwing his worthless phone into the chair behind him. Practically stomping his way over to the landline in the kitchen. He grabbed the phone off the receiver-

“Use that phone and I’ll cut off power to this entire block.” Ume’s ice-cold words cut through his rage filled haze. He took a deep breath and when he let it out he put the phone back with a click. He took another deep breath with his hands on his hips and let it out slowly.

“We will discuss this further first. And if you still want to call him afterwards, we will.” Ume’s voice carried over to him.

“Don’t act like you’re giving me a choice.”

“I’m merely ensuring you don’t make any impulsive decisions.”

Sukuna took one more breath as the roiling anger settled under his skin. Ready to strike. He carefully took the path back to the recliner grabbing Ume from their charger along the way. Sukuna clicked the Ai back into his head as he settled back down. He checked that his phone was fine from the rough treatment, put it away, and slouched forward with his head in his hands.

I’d expect this kind of thing from Kaori, not him.

Did you think he was incapable?

No. I assumed he loved his son enough to not fucking use him. Of course. Of course, Yuuji went to Bloom Park. Why wouldn’t he do that for Jin? The brat was a people pleaser. Jin wasn’t around all the time so of course he’d want to do something that his brother specifically asked Yuuji to do.

I do think it was odd the way he referred to himself. Yuuji has not called him that since he was little.

Trying to get his sympathy is the best I can hazard. The thought stoked the flames of his rage even further. Jin had been doing better with this arrangement for years. Why the sudden fuck up?

I did have something else to share that goes hand in hand with the message.

Sukuna dragged his hand across his face, “What now?”

We have been partners for many years. I’ve seen your interactions with Jin. Though you do not call often, the longest you have gone without getting a call back is one day and the shortest is three seconds. Of the few times you have called him twice before he has called you back, he answered every time. Even if it was just to tell you he had to call you later.

Sukuna pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

I had assumed we would have talked to him in person by now. His behavior has been very odd. What do you surmise of this?

His elbows rested on his knees. Looking out over the furnished room and multiple family pictures. Ones that Ume insisted on hanging up. The only contributions he’d been willing to put out were Dad’s urn and his blanket. …though that wasn’t completely true. Ume insisted on him putting up some older pictures from storage. They did find a good picture of Mom, Dad, Jin, and him because of it. Soon enough the walls were covered in them, old and new, and they had to be hung up in the hallway too.

“I think he knew I would notice something was wrong if he answered.”

Agreed. Unfortunately, this also implies that Jin could have been the one to kill Kaori.

“God damn it.”

We don’t have any concrete evidence, so there is the possibility that someone else used Jin’s phone.

“And they just happened to know that’s what Yuuji used to call Jin?”

It could have been a lucky guess on their part, but I agree that the chances are slim.

Sukuna took out his phone. Scoured through his past texting history with his brother. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Are you going to call him?

“Will you stop me if I do?”

No. I will not stop you if you still wish to do so.

He tapped a fingernail against the locked screen. The device clanked against the surface of the small table nearby where he placed it. If he didn’t answer before he’s not going to answer now. Plus, he’d just end up yelling at Jin if he called now and he picked up. He couldn’t let their one good lead go - his feelings be damned. Have you told Yuki?

No. I wanted to inform you first.

Don’t tell her yet. I want to talk to Yuuji on it first. Part of him hopes the brat will come clean on who sent it. Make it easy for everyone. The other more logical half knows he isn’t going to say anything to implicate Jin. Even if it hurt himself in the process.

A ringing touch screen popped up in the corner of his eye. Speak of the devil and she shall appear. I will refrain from telling her this info until we’ve talked with Yuuji.

Thanks. Connect it.

Ume connected the line and Yuki’s voice came through. “Heya. I need you to come by ABIS.”

“Can’t. I’m going by the hospital first.”

“To see Yuuji?”

“Why else would I be going?”

“Don’t bother. I brought him here.”

Sukuna immediately got up, “Is that even safe?”

“He’s as safe here as he is anywhere,” Yuki’s casualness still ever present no matter the topic, “Doctor’s confirmed he has aphonia. Physically he’s fine. His wounds are psychological.”

Aphonia also means that it is not a matter of whether or not Yuuji wants to speak, he can’t.

Sukuna had grabbed his phone and made it to the front door already pulling on his shoes.

“You know what I’m going to ask.”

“Save it. I’m heading over. Don’t move him.”

“See you soon~” Ume disconnected the call as Sukuna grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

Chapter 8: November 2nd, 2019 – 4:26PM - Police Headquarters

Notes:

Oh hey Yuuji's back- oh he's not doing so good.

Inside Yuki’s colorfully decorated office was both said leader of ABIS and Yuuji. The youngest of the two sitting on one of those comfortable chairs of hers staring off into nothing. The teen didn’t give any indication that he saw Sukuna standing right next to him or that he had come into the office. Nothing had changed since this morning.

“You know what I’m going to say,” Yuki said.

“Is it safe for him?”

“You know it is, but if you’re that worried you can ask Suguru and he’ll tell you the same.”

Yuuji wouldn’t be able to give his testimony if he stayed like this. If they wanted anymore leads, they needed something and Yuuji was their best bet.

“I could ask someone else to psync with him,” Yuki offered.

“Over my dead body,” the words flew out of their own volition.

Yuki shrugged at the venom sent her way. She knew he was stalling. Sukuna stifled his own sigh. He grabbed his nephews’ arm, still wearing that dull yellow hoodie from the night before, and pulled him to stand up. The brat didn’t fight him at all. With one arm on his shoulder, he guided Yuuji forward as they followed Yuki even further into the building.

Notes:

By the way, the acronym ABIS is pronounced like the word 'abyss.'

Chapter 9: November 2nd, 2019 – 4:46PM - Police Headquarters

Notes:

And here we are at introducing video game mechanics. I decided the game mechanics themselves will have it's own chapter. There's a lot going on in it that's all important that I wanted to have it's own limelight on.

The floor to ceiling windows of the control room gave a perfect view down to the ground floor where the Psync Machine was in the middle of it. Multiple large cables ran along the ground up to the base of the machine and a few connected to the two suspended, slightly reclined chairs on opposite sides of each other. The headrests of the seats were connected to a huge metallic circle suspended in between the two seats. The covered visors sticking out from the sides of the circle. The room itself was blaringly white. In the ‘subject’ chair was Yuuji. Waiting.

The control room was darker by contrast. Sukuna leaned against he railing above the few steps down to the rounded desks along the glass windows. Multiple monitors flashing various data points. Yuki was looking out over the window. Suguru, in his semi-casual attire and black hair tied up out of the way, was typing and clicking away at the information on screen to prep the imminent psync.

“Did you get Jin’s permission? He’s his legal guardian.” Another bait at stalling that Sukuna couldn’t even defend himself on.

Yuki shook her head, “I couldn’t get in touch with him.”

“I thought he was being questioned by a local unit.”

“His questioning ended at noon. He hasn’t been heard from since.”

Thick claws of years old anger mixed with a newfound one of recent transgressions. They couldn’t act on it now. He had to talk with Yuuji first. Which meant psynching with him. If they couldn’t get him to talk, then they could at least see if he saw something.

“You might be able to help him.” Yuki turned her body towards him. “His condition is psychogenic. Diving into his subconscious might just be what he needs to heal from what he saw.”

Sukuna flicked his eyes down to where Yuuji sat across the glass. The brat was perfectly compliant when he’d been settled into that chair and hadn’t moved since.

“How’s Yuuji doing?” This time it wasn’t a bid for stalling. This was standard procedure now.

“His vitals are stable.” Suguru answered without turning away from the monitors. A few more clicks then, “His EEG is also stable. We should be able to proceed.”

That was his cue. Sukuna pushed away from the railing with his steps echoing amid the quiet hum of running technology. The door on the side of the control room slid open to the stairs heading downward. The same type of door slid open at the bottom revealing the Psync Room. His footsteps were even louder in the almost empty room.

“Agent Sukuna,” Suguru’s voice came over the intercom, “Yuuji’s heart rate is rising and his brain waves are showing signs of disturbance.” Sukuna could see the man looking down from the window above. “He may be getting nervous. Try calming him down.”

Sukuna had stopped beside the psyncer chair. How was he supposed to do that when he couldn’t talk?

Yuki’s voice came over the intercom and his eyes flicked to where she was looking down at him too, “It’s true that he can’t speak, but he can hear you. Try talking with him.”

Easier said than done. Sukuna grabbed the adjustable stool from where Suguru left it for when he needed to work on the machine and pulled it over to the occupied ‘subject’ chair. Yuuji was staring off into nothing from where he was slightly reclined. His arm resting against the arm rests and his eyes only moving minuscule amounts to indicate he was there at all. There was no other indicator that he was stressed. Sukuna deposited himself on the stool as he raked through his mind on what he could even bring up.

“I know you think I’m an ordinary cop, but I’m a part of a special investigation unit called ABIS. That stands for Advanced Brain Investigation Squad.” He gestured at the room. “That’s why we’re here. Our specialty is researching the human mind. There are a billion kind of suspects and persons of interest out there. Some of them don’t want to talk. Some of them lie. Maybe they have a head injury or have deep mental wounds that prevent them from talking.” There was still nothing indicating his words were reaching him, but it didn’t appear to be making anything worse. “We get our clues by diving into their subconscious. They can’t lie about the truth there.” Sukuna put a hand on Yuuji’s arm. Just enough pressure to show he’s there. “This is what’s gong to happen: I’m going to look inside your head and see if you saw anything that might be helpful for our investigation. You’ll be asleep for all of it. You won’t have to do anything. It can go on for as long as six minutes, but if I find what I need sooner it won’t take that long.” Still nothing in those miniscule flicks of his eyes. Was this even doing anything? “I can’t make any promises, but I may be able to fix your muteness too. Don’t get your hopes up.”

The low hum of technology took up the space where he’d been speaking. There had to be something else he could say to calm him down. “When this is over and you’re feeling better, I’ll make you some of that stew you like.” Didn’t matter when he made that old recipe, somehow Yuuji would be there asking if he could have some.

The crackle of the intercom cut through, “Sukuna, his heart rate is steadying. His EEG is stable. We’re ready to go.”

Sukuna stood up kicking the stool back to the side of the room. He squeezed the non-responsive brat’s arm. The psyncer chair as familiar as always as he settled into it. The whir of machinery moving echoed as the chairs were lifted upwards for both the subject and psyncer to be almost horizontal as their vision was covered by the overhead visor.

“Ready, Sukuna?” Yuki’s static filled question.

“Ready whenever.”

“Remember Sukuna,” Suguru’s voice a slight monotone for the standard procedures he said with all psync’s performed. “You only have six minutes in the Somnium world. Any longer and your consciousness will be absorbed by the subject’s.”

“Got it,” he answered in his own monotone. He’d heard it more than a dozen times before, but seeing as one Psyncer liked to push his luck and cause the engineer extra stress, they had to say these things every time. The machinery whirred once more. Blue particles flowing out to form a sphere from the middle circle overhead. Sukuna’s consciousness floating up and away then downward out of his body.

Notes:

It felt weird to try and fit this in somewhere without it just being an info dump so here's more info on Psyncer's from the game.

"Psycning" involves diving into someone's subconscious mind. You sink deep down into their psyches and synchronize with their true selves. The people who do this are called "Psyncers." Psyncers enter the subject's subconscious which is a dream-like state they call "Somnium." In the game there are six Psyncers which I think would be the same case here. Feel free to choose who else you think would be a Psyncer. The only other one I know for sure is Gojo.

Chapter 10: November 2nd, 2019 – meikAI

Notes:

Notes on how talking goes on inside the Psync. If text is inside {these brackets}, that indicates that only Sukuna and Ume can hear what the other is saying out loud. If text is in "regular quotation marks", then everyone inside and outside observing the Somnium can hear what was said. New addition to colored text! Anything with green text is Suguru and anything with purple text is Yuki.

Okay so here's some side notes regarding game mechanics that will not be addressed in the fic below b/c everyone involved has been doing Psync's for years so it would not make any sense to mention them.

The idea is that normally its impossible for the person experiencing a dream to remove themselves of it as dreams are a first person experience. When a Psyncer dives into these dreams (or Somniums) they are experiencing them as an observer. The example the game gives is like if you're watching a play. The 'subject' is the author, director, and actor. The Psyncer is the audience.

Somnium Scans are performed at the start of a psync to scan the dream world (Somnium) which reveal Mental Locks to the Psyncer. Now this next part I just took straight from the game for an explanation: "In short, Somnium is a world built from the deepest recesses of your consciousness. This world [Somnium] is divided into several layers. Each layer stands upon a foundation, a base component. Think of these foundations as mental blocks. Or simply 'locks' for convenience. Mental Locks must be broken before we can proceed deeper into consciousness." These Mental Locks are tied to something specific in the Somnium and it is through the action of the Psyncer that they can find a way to unlock it. Keep in mind that because this is a dream the solution isn't always the most obvious one.

Plunging deep inside someone else’s mind is always a surreal experience. No two dreams are the same. The logic of a dream hinges as much on the subject’s mental state as it does on their personality. Sometimes they’re a reflection of reality. Other times the dream only has abstract representations of the outside world.

Harsh rain came down on the shiny stone of Bloom Park while lightening cracked down incessantly against the metal of the bird cage surrounding the merry-go-round spinning at hurricane speed. The sky a deep crimson as the whines of the upside-down squirming carousel horses echoed across the empty park from their displaced potted homes. The lights of the break neck speed of the carousel flashing brightly. Time slowing down the events of the scene to a crawl as tendrils of light gathered and condensed to produce a humanoid form. Skin a pure white color with black diamonds going down their legs and two on their shoulders and bits of black and red lines intertwining up their sides and over their chest and back. Their arms turning almost transparent from the elbow down revealing red skeletal electrical currents to their fingertips. Chin length white hair and two piercing icy blue eyes took a quick survey of the area.

Sukuna felt his own consciousness settle into floating around the vicinity of Ume’s new form. No body of his own, but in return he had a bird’s eye view of everything around them. {It’s about as bad as I expected.}

The humanoid Ai nodded, {Indeed. Given the extent of what he saw, it’s understandable.} Their expression turned determined, {Let’s begin.}

White bursts of electrical charges gathered up underneath where the Ai was standing, “Somnium Scan: Activate.” The sparks flew outward reaching every part of the Somnium, catching and categorizing all its little nuisances. The information slipped back to its origin and the location of the Mental Locks appeared in his mind’s eye. Three of them. The lighting, the birdcage, and the reflective mirror on the carousel column.

Off the path of the merry-go-round Sukuna spotted a large cherry red puddle. In the middle of it, even from this distance, he could hazard a guess that the picture plastered on the ground was Kaori. An ice pick stabbed into what had to be her right eye straight into the ground. Best place to start with these kinds of Somnium’s was the most obvious things.

{Start with the ice pick over there.}

The chaos of the dream resumed as Ume walked over to the indicated area. The sound dying down when they crouched down by the picture as time came to a crawl once more. In the middle of that puddle was indeed a front facing picture of Kaori. The ice pick was stabbed into the pictures right eye through the ground and the pick was vibrating enough to subtly move side to side but never leaving the confines of the right eye it pierced. Sukuna noted from this new vantage point that near the bird cage one of those amusement park speakers used to make announcements was shaking.

{The speaker over there is vibrating as well.}

Ume reached out and grabbed the pick’s handle with their hand. The pick stopped shaking and in turn the speaker stopped moving as well.

{I see. The two are connected.} They let go of the pick and it resumed shaking. Awaiting Sukuna’s input on what to do next for this dream. There was a logic that Sukuna could potentially see the dream following with this connection, but there was only way to confirm it.

{Try pulling the ice pick out.}

{Understood.} They grabbed the ice pick once more ceasing its vibrations and pulled it up and out except it never came out of the ground. The metal of the pick just grew longer as it continued to pierce the photo. Simultaneously the speaker from before was pulled out of the ground revealing it was on a longer metal pole. The control room for the attraction popping out as well when Ume could no longer attempt to pull the ice pick out any further. Ume moved minutely to bid time to move a bit faster. Lighting struck downward towards the high metal speakers. The sound of a lock unfastening indication enough that the first Mental Lock was dealt with. Next was the bird cage itself.

{Let’s see the control room.}

Ume nodded and approached the control room. Sukuna couldn’t see anything else around them that might be an indicator on what the connection to the birdcage would be. When that was the case it was usually best to inspect whatever was new in the dream first. {Go inside.}

The Ai opened the door to the control room to a bright white light shining through the entire doorway. It engulfed both Ume and Sukuna’s sight and then faded out entirely to a pitch-dark place. No, there was light radiating from above. There was a hole high above them wherever they were. None of the chaotic sounds of Yuuji’s rendition of Bloom Park following either.

“Five minutes, Sukuna.”

The reminder floated to the back of his mind. The light from above was shining down on two birdcages. Comparatively smaller than the one around the carousel. On the right there were balloons of varying colors bunched up underneath the cage. The one on the left had scraps of torn up paper inside it. Sukuna looked at it a bit longer noting that it wasn’t paper. It was a photo. A familiar one at that.

{Pick up the cage on the left with the torn photo in it.}

With a bit of effort on their part, Ume was able to heft the cage over. Another subtle unlocking sound indicating the bird cage had changed. But both Sukuna and Ume stayed in the dark place. There was no exit or any other kind of doors. The revealed torn photo scraps stayed where they were. Ume’s eyes narrowed slightly, {Is that what I think it is?}

{You think so too?}

{What do we do with it?}

{Try piecing them back together.}

{On it.}

The light shuffling of the pieces being moved filled the darkness. The jig sawed photo solidified the torn edges together to make the photo whole. Yuuji was about five or six in it. He was riding the little panda ride outside the merry-go-round which you could still see in the background. Kaori and Jin were a little off to the side wearing subtle smiles for the camera. Yuuji’s smile was blinding. Blinding white light engulfed their perception as it did before. When it was gone, Ume was holding the whole photo and the chaos of Bloom Park returned. The cage around the rapidly moving carousel was removed. Sukuna could see it on its side outside the gated ground like someone had just tossed it over.

{He’s still thinking about this?} Ume was looking down at the intact picture in their hand.

{Looks like it.}

Sukuna could still remember it clearly. It was years ago. He’d come home from work one day and saw the scraps of the photo dumped in the trash. He’d tried to ask Yuuji about it, but when he brought it up the boy started crying. He never found out why Yuuji tore up that picture, but whatever his reason, clearly, he regrets it.

{Poor thing.} If it were anyone else, they would think Ume was being flat out patronizing. Sukuna could hear the genuine care easily. The Ai set the repaired photo on one of the empty benches. It didn’t really matter since this was a dream anyway, but Sukuna wasn’t going to get in their way on it.

“Agent Sukuna, you have four minutes.”

The reminder once again fading to the back of his mind. Sukuna scoured the area for any other changes. Off to the side of the control room of the merry-go-round was something that hadn’t been before but had been in the picture. A small panda ride for younger kids. The cartoonish sized head was rotating slowly and the eyes were glowing red.

{Over there. The panda ride.}

The small ride continued its lazy head rotation up close.

{I’m assuming these are connected as well.}

{That’s what I’m hoping for.}

Ume grabbed the spinning head and dragged it to a stop. The carousel doing the same behind them. There was a peculiar sound from near the center of the attraction. The mirror that had been over the central column had disappeared. And there was Yuuji standing there. As Ume went around the gate to get closer, Sukuna confirmed that this wasn’t the same Yuuji as he was outside Somnium. He was a lot younger if his height was anything to go by. Silent tears flowing down the boy’s cheeks with only a slight frown to accompany it. That distant look in his eyes.

{What should I do?} Ume was standing right in front of Yuuji.

The boy hadn’t reacted at all. It was a dream after all. This may or not may just be a representation of Yuuji and not the real one. The boy kept staring off through Ume. The longer Sukuna looked at him, the more the answer seemed obvious. …But something kept pulling him away from that answer. That part of himself that told him to pull back when others tried to get closer. He couldn’t be comforting or soft in any way. Anyone who asked that of him was setting themselves up for disappointment. Those normal things didn’t come naturally to him. Not like they did for other people. He couldn’t be those things for him.

{Sukuna?} Ume prodded.

{Hmm?}

{This is only a dream. He will not remember any of this when he wakes up.}

{I know that.}

{Then I will ask once more: what should I do?}

Sukuna gave one last look at his crying nephew. The boy expecting nothing from no one. To suffer in silence.

{Give him a hug.}

{Understood.}

The Ai closed the distance between the two pulling the boy into a hug. “Yuuji…” A sharp, cut-off whine escaped Yuuji and he pressed his forehead into Ume’s shoulder. That was the catalyst for him to begin loudly sobbing. It was like a dam breaking. There was no stopping it once it started. The scenery around them changed as he couldn’t contain the overwhelming emotions. The upside-down horses ceased their squirming and returned to regular objects. The sky washed out all the red to a dreary grey with a little trickle of rain. Sukuna zeroed in on a blue humanoid figure in the distance. Right where the stone of the park ceased and the wildly growing weeds started. The faint unlocking sound echoing around. There was nothing left for them here. Sukuna glanced at the pair in the column’s doorway. Ume had started leaning into the hug too. Yuuji clung to them as he kept crying. Not as loudly but still incessantly.

{Time to go.}

Ume gave one last pat to Yuuji’s head as Sukuna dragged their collective consciousness out of the dream and ended the Somnium early.

 

---

 

The whir of familiar machinery greeted him as he was deposited back into his body. Sukuna already getting up before the chair had fully set down. Over in the subject chair, Yuuji brought a hand up to rub at his eyes. He was doing things without others input. That’s a good sign. The brat was still out of it enough to not look up when Sukuna was practically right next to him.

“How’re you feeling?”

Disoriented honey brown eyes fell to him, “Sukuna?” Momentary shock lifted that disorientation to reveal he was no longer a million miles away. His next expression was lost to Sukuna because the brat dove right for him while still sitting down so the brat was wrapped around his midsection. Sukuna had his arms raised to avoid getting wrapped up in the brat’s vice grip. A certain level of annoyance at the display of affection following.

The electronic door slid open to reveal Yuki walking through, “Nice work. Looks like you got him talking again.”

Sukuna let out an irritated sigh as he let one of his hands fall on top of the brat’s head. They still had a lot to do. The fact that Yuuji could talk now just meant they could clear a few things up.

Notes:

Why/How does Ume show up in Somnium? I'm glad you asked. Ume is linked to Sukuna's brain via an artificial nerve (i.e. they are a part of his brain). During Psyncing, Sukuna's consciousness is sent into the subject's Somnium which in turn a part of Ume's 'self' is Psynched as well.

Chapter 11: November 2nd, 2019 – 4:52PM - Police Headquarters

Notes:

More clarifications from Yuuji on that night. Yipeee

After Yuuji had calmed down enough to let go of Sukuna, they went upstairs to the control room. Sukuna was leaning against the railing. Yuuji was in one of the rolling chairs below and Yuki was sitting on one of the steps so she was at eye level with him. Suguru had finished his typing at some point. The recording of the Somnium tucked away safely for any reference they may need later.

Yuki was keeping her tone casual, “Yuuji, when we found you, you were holding the ice pick, right? Can you tell us why?”

The teen was putting on a brave face, but anyone could see he was still not quite back to normal. Given what he saw, it’d be weird if he was fine.

Yuuji glanced off to the side, “When I got there the ice pick was…” He took a breath yet his voice sounded like he was in pain, “It was… s-stuck in my mom’s eye. I- I couldn’t stop looking. All I could think was… I had to get it out.”

“So you panicked and pulled it out.” Yuki finished for him.

“Yeah…” the brat had the decency to look apologetic.

“And you held onto it when you hid in the column.”

“Yeah.”

A reasonable explanation.

Odd thing to say about an irrational action.

It may have been an irrational action, but given the relationship between Yuuji and the victim it is not completely unwarranted. Humans are prone to irrational action when under extreme stress.

Yuki leaned forward, “Now this next question is very important. When you pulled out the ice pick, was Kaori’s eye still there?”

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t…”

“The eye socket was empty?”

“Yeah…” the teen said in the most pathetic sounding voice.

Now we know that Yuuji did not remove the victim’s eye.

And it hasn’t been recovered yet either. It was definitely missing when we arrived at the scene last night.

Correct. Therefore, we can assume it was removed from the scene.

Yuki sat up straight, “Okay.” She gave Yuuji a small smile, “Thank you Yuuji. That was very helpful.” She gestured at Sukuna and herself, “We still have some more questions for you, but they shouldn’t be as difficult. Think you’re up for it?” The teen flicked his gaze over at him and back to Yuki before nodding.

“You received a NILE message last night.” The teen looked up at Sukuna as he spoke. “It said to go to the merry-go-round at Bloom Park. Who sent it?”

He caught a streak of defiance and hesitance in his eye as Yuuji broke eye contact. “I don’t know.” Sukuna’s grip on the railing tightened.

“You don’t know? You followed a complete stranger?”

“No! I didn’t follow some stranger!”

“So you knew them.”

Yuuji didn’t look away this time, “It doesn’t matter who sent it.”

That age-old anger had been simmering and was slowly being brought to a boil again. His nephew should not be covering for his brother. He was a grown man who could take responsibility for his own fuck ups. Not foist them onto his own blood.

We knew this would happen.

That doesn’t make it any better.

Yuki leaned back to look up at Sukuna, “We already checked Yuuji’s cell phone. The contents were completely wiped.” The brat glanced at her then to the floor. Fidgeting with the sleeve of his hoodie. Leave it to Yuki to deliberately bring up information to get a reaction.

Think it’s safe to assume that he wiped it himself?

Absolutely. His reaction in combination with the fact that his phone was on his person when we found him implies it could have only been him.

She inclined her head towards the engineer, “Suguru? Any progress on it?”

“No. Tracing the sender of the NILE message will take some time.”

Suguru doesn’t deal with that side of tech but Yuuji wouldn’t know to call them on that bluff. If anything, there was someone else who was working on it. It just wasn’t Suguru. The brat glanced between the two. Not saying a word to any of it. He knew they’d find out. Yet he still wanted to keep it a secret. For some damn reason.

I do not think it is too unusual.

Don’t defend him.

I’m not. He witnessed his mother’s corpse after being sent there by what might have been his own father. I do not find it unusual that Yuuji would want to believe that Jin did not commit the crime.

Sukuna knew they were right, but it didn’t make it easier to swallow. He shouldn’t be covering for him on this at all.

We do not have any definitive evidence showing it was Jin who committed the crime. But for Yuuji it appears that it was Jin who sent him to Bloom Park. That would make him a prime suspect.

We also don’t have any evidence saying Jin didn’t commit the crime.

Ume hummed their agreement. Until they found someone else to pin this on, Jin was their most likely suspect.

Yuki snapped her fingers as she looked back at Yuuji, “Oh, right. Did you see anyone on the night you found Kaori?”

The teen relaxed at that question. “Yeah. I saw someone in the corner, past the merry-go-round.”

“Who was it?” Sukuna inquired using Yuki’s casual tone.

Yuuji thought for a moment on it. “I don’t know.” This time it sounded genuine. “It was dark and raining. And…” He looked down at the floor again, “I thought maybe it was the same person who hurt mom. So I hid in the column. The door was open a little so I snuck in.”

That didn’t do much for them. The brat saw someone but not who it was.

“Sukuna,” he glanced over at Yuki, “There might have been something we missed at the crime scene. Head over to Bloom Park and have another look around.”

“On it,” Sukuna pushed away from the railing. He motioned over at Yuuji, “Move it, brat.”

“Huh?” Confusion coloring Yuuji’s face.

Sukuna turned on his heel for the door. “You’re going to show me where you saw that figure.” He didn’t turn around to see if he was following. And he didn’t turn around as he walked through the exit and heard scrambling and hurried goodbyes from the brat.

Notes:

Honestly, writing this whole fic has been a lot more fun than I was expecting. I wonder if people are reading this all in one go or if they take it one piece at a time. It's a lotta info to keep track of. Especially for the first time.

Chapter 12: November 2nd, 2019 – 6:38PM - Capital City Highway

Thanks to some idiot on the highway, they were stuck in standstill traffic. The truck in the distance obstructing a good chunk of the highway itself from where it was on its side. The only thing he could do was rest his head on his hand as he leaned against the car door while they waited it out. What should have been about an hour long drive was going to take them who knows how long to get to the closed amusement park.

“I’m sorry.”

Sukuna raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at his nephew. The teen was pointedly looking out his own window in the passenger seat. “For hugging you earlier. I know we don’t really do that kind of thing so,” Yuuji turned to look out the front windshield, “sorry.”

“Don’t give me that flimsy apology.”

The brat met his stare, “I’m trying to be considerate here.”

“Who said I wanted it? We both know you’re not sorry.”

“Fine. I take it back. I’m not sorry. I’d do it again.” The brat was lightly agitated by the whole exchange as he went back to looking out his window to the motionless rows of cars surrounding them. “I’d make it longer too.”

Sukuna grunted in response to end their conversation and settled back in for the long wait ahead of them.

Notes:

Sukuna, you know you can just say "It's fine. Don't worry about it." like a normal person, right? You don't have to be antagonistic.

Chapter 13: November 2nd, 2019 – 8:13PM – Bloom Park

They finally made it to Bloom Park after the agonizing amount of traffic they had to sit through. There were some officers hanging around the scene but their numbers had reduced significantly. Not surprising since this was a restricted area anyways. Sukuna had to show his badge to the new rotation to be granted access to the scene again. They asked about Yuuji with the skepticism of why he was bringing a random person with him to a crime scene. Sukuna said he was an important witness and left it at that as he walked through the holographic police tape. Yuuji following right behind as he did and the brat almost crashed into him when the detective stopped.

“Go on,” Sukuna indicated out in the open area surrounding the merry-go-round, “show me.” 

Yuuji walked past him over to the right, stopped, looked over to his left and started that way, then stopped again as he looked around scratching his neck.

“Do you even remember where you saw it?”

“I do,” the brat disputed as he looked around again, “The perspective’s all off. Just give me a minute.”

“The perspective?"

“Yes – the perspective,” the brat bit out.

He likely is having trouble recalling it clearly now that the danger has passed. I do not doubt he knows where he saw the figure.

Let’s give his memory a little help then.

Sukuna strode past Yuuji while he kept trying to figure it out on his own. The old wood of the carousel creaking as he stepped up onto it.

Stand in front of the-

-horse Kaori was on. Was already planning to.

Sukuna turned around to beckon the teen over. Again, Yuuji had that brave face on but his hesitance as he got closer to the attraction showed his waning confidence. He didn’t step onto it once he was close enough. Instead looking up and over the old thing like he was taking the whole thing in for the first time.

“Where were you standing when you saw them?” keeping it professional to pull out the information he needed.

Honey brown snapped to him before going back to looking at the ride. The old wood barely creaked as he stepped up onto it. Sukuna adjusted his position to obstruct more of the horse as Yuuji took a few steps in his direction. The teen flicked his eyes over in his direction and then over his shoulder once and a second time with recollection shining in his eyes. The teen jumped off the old attraction and Sukuna followed his brisk pace. Yuuji pointed over to the gap in the fencing where a path might have been once upon a time but now was covered in overgrowth.

“They were right there.”

“What were they doing?”

The teen’s confidence waned, “…I don’t know. It was dark. They were just standing in the rain. I think they might have been watching me.” Sukuna filed away the information as he looked past the overgrowth.

Ume, what’s past here?

This path leads to the subway. It has of course closed down. It is no longer in service. In his right eye appeared a bird’s eye view of the area surrounding Bloom Park. The Kabasaki district highlighted as Ume continued. This is due to the explosion at the chemical plant that occurred years ago. The surrounding district of Kabasaki was contaminated and declared off-limits. Bloom Park closed for the same reason. As did all commerce and industry in Kabasaki. The railroads and public transportation to and from this area were shut down as well.

Sukuna traced the railway patterns along the map. None of it was in use, but just like the fact that Kabasaki was a restricted area, it didn’t mean no one was there or that people didn’t enter anyway. They wouldn’t have to worry about public transit times either.

Does the entire track run underground?

No. The track leading northward from Bloom Park eventually rises to ground level.

At a railroad crossing?

Yes. The map image zoomed in a bit.

Then the tracks must cross a surface street at some point.

Correct.

Can you see if any cars were driving on that surface street last night?

Certainly. One moment. The map blinked out of his vision.

“Hey,” Yuuji was looking at him, “you’ve been really quiet. Are you okay?”

Sukuna didn’t bother looking back. He reached a hand out covering the brat’s face as he lightly pushed it away. “I’m thinking.”

Yuuji swatted his hand away with a grumbled, “You’re the worst. Can we go?”

“You can wait in the car if you’re that desperate to leave.”

The brat didn’t respond. Instead, he settled over on a bench he could see out of the corner of his eye. There was a prickle in the back of his mind telling him Ume wanted to talk. Sukuna crossed his arms over his chest as he gave his attention inward once more.

I found something.

Yeah?

I picked up a single vehicle traversing that street last night. A black SUV. I ran the plate through the vehicle registration database to find the owner.

Sukuna waited for Ume to provide the following info, but it didn’t come through.

Who was it? He could feel the reluctance of the Ai. It wasn’t hard to imagine the answer when he knew someone who owned a black SUV and had been nothing but suspicious since this started. Was it Jin’s car?

…yes. Unfortunately.

Sukuna let out a heavy sigh. He couldn’t even be surprised at this point. If the culprit used the subway tracks, they could take the body right to the merry-go-round without being caught on camera. It explained why there were no cars parked near the scene.

We cannot prove it was Jin who drove the car. But in combination with the NILE message sent to Yuuji, there is no doubt he was involved with the crime in some way.

What we need is to talk with him face to face. I know I can get answers out of him if I do.

Agreed.

Yuuji was still sitting on the bench. Arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back. Sukuna was going to ask him this when they got back in the car, but now was good as time as any. He kept looking straight ahead keeping Yuuji in his periphery as he spoke, “Jin sent you that NILE message.” He caught the teen's attention snap over to him. “’Yuuji, Daddy got caught in something serious. Please come to Bloom Park's merry-go-round right away. Daddy needs your help. Please, do as I say.’” He slid his eyes over to Yuuji’s wide eyed look, “Sound familiar?”

The brat was grasping at the bench like he was ready to bolt or trying to keep himself in place. His voice came out small, “How did you know?”

“Ume figured it out.” As far as Yuuji knew, Ume has been his work partner for years but has never actually met them. What with ABIS being a smaller working part of the MPD, they couldn’t just let anyone know what they did or the tech that they worked with. In Yuuji’s mind, Ume was a regular, but elusive, human. The teen stared down at the stone ground with his lips pressed into a thin line.

Sukuna decided to put on a little pressure, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I knew it’d make him look bad if I did,” Yuuji pulled the words out.

“You’d rather make yourself look worse?”

The brat had a fire in his eyes as he harshly whispered, “He didn’t do it.”

Sukuna unfolded one of his arms to point down at Yuuji, “That’s not for you to decide. He can tell me himself.” And he started walking off to the park’s entrance.

Chapter 14: November 2nd, 2019 – Around 9:30PM – Highway

Notes:

I was trying to think of how I would classify where they are in the title, so y'all will have to settle for it being a little vague. Just know that Sukuna is driving, Yuuji's in shotgun, and they're currently on the highway.

Also, Yuki's purple text makes a come back. Just an FYI.

Sukuna gave Ume the go ahead to send off all the info they had over to Yuki. There was no denying it now that Jin was their prime suspect. The brat did finally get back in the car and then they were on their way to Jin’s house. But Yuuji had been pissy the whole time. He kept throwing side eyes at him with that same intensity as at the park while Sukuna kept his on the highway ahead.

“You’ve got something to say?” Sukuna keeping his own voice even.

The brat fully turned on him from the passenger seat, “You think he did it.”

“I think it’s possible. I can’t prove he was the one who messaged you.” Sukuna took a quick glance to see a kernel of hope glint in Yuuji’s eyes.

“Yeah, it was someone else who used his phone!”

“And was it someone else who used his car? It was spotted near Bloom Park last night.” Sukuna was well aware he was stoking the fire now.

“Maybe it was!” Yuuji’s pissy attitude returned, “I know I didn’t see him last night. It wasn’t Dad.”

The figure on the edge of the merry-go-round came to mind. The one the brat had said he didn’t see clearly. “Are you sure?” laying thick on the skepticism.

“I-“ Yuuji looked out the front windshield, “..I don’t know. But that doesn’t mean it was him.”

“He can defend himself on this. Stop trying to do it for him.” Sukuna was trying to be neutral on this but the damn brat knew how to get under his skin. “We have two potential suspects so far and its either him or you.”

Burning honey brown bore into him, “So you want Dad to have done it? Cause he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do that to Mom.”

Sukuna’s knuckles tightened over the wheel, “Do you hear yourself? You’re throwing yourself under the bus and for what? A father willing to frame you for murder?”

“Maybe I di-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence Yuuji,” he could see out of the corner of his eye the brat immediately back off at his raised voice. Sukuna couldn’t bring himself to care. He was going to nip this little mentality of his in the bud. If Yuuji wasn’t going to look out for himself, then he didn’t get to say anything else on this.

Sukuna, you need to calm down.

I’m trying.

Sukuna focused on his breathing. Forcing himself to take even breaths. A couple minutes must have passed by the time he felt any semblance of his ire retreating. He almost didn’t catch the brat’s next sentence.

“Dad said he was counting on me. He’s never said that to me before.”

Of course he didn’t. He’d be more surprised if Jin had ever said anything like that to Yuuji. Which made the fact that he did so now all the more concerning. Anyone is capable of killing another person if given the right reasons or motivation. The problem was that Sukuna couldn’t see Jin killing someone unless it was at least in self-defense or by accident. There was nothing accidental about how Kaori died. One stab wound could be an accident. Multiple stab wounds is deliberate and with the intention to maim. It could hardly be considered self-defense when there were no signs of a struggle on Kaori’s part. He took one last breath and let it out. Slowly loosening up his death grip on the steering wheel.

“When was the last time you saw Jin?”

“Uh, I think last week.”

“Did he seem different at all?”

Yuuji shook his head, “No, he seemed fine. What about you?”

“Saw him less than a week ago. Nothing seemed off at the time.” Sukuna glanced over at his nephew. He wasn’t as hunched up now. “Did he come see you in the hospital?”

“No…” Yuuji’s slight dejection creeping in.

Seriously? He thought they were past this kind of thing already. Sukuna didn’t care who Jin had to cancel on or piss off, he would be there if Yuuji needed him. He made sure to get that across to his brother a long time ago. Stopping by the hospital was the very least he could do.  

“Have you called him?” the teen asked.

“I’ve tried. He hasn’t picked up any time I have.” A ringing touch screen pulled up in the corner of his right eye. Incoming call from Yuki. “Connect it.”

Ume let the connection go through and the ringing touchscreen turned green on the phone icon.

“Hey, I read the report from Ume. Jin’s a suspect?” Yuki’s voice came through like his phone was to his ear but in reality only he could hear her voice coming through the call.

“Yeah. We’re headed to his house.”

“Don’t bother. I had local cops search the place. Didn’t find anything and I just got off the phone with them again. He hasn’t returned home either.”

“The hell is he doing?” Sukuna mumbled mostly to himself.

“Hard to say. He won’t pick up his phone and he vanishes after questioning? It’s pretty suspicious on its own. He doesn’t have an alibi for the time of the murder either so that doesn’t help him.”

“He doesn’t?”

“Not one we can corroborate. Kaori’s time of death was estimated to be around 5:00PM yesterday. Jin claims that he was at home alone at the time. But that means no one can back up his story.”

Of course he didn’t have a good alibi. “What about his questioning? Did he mention anything?”

“Nothing we didn’t already know. He didn’t have much to say at all, really. I thought he was supposed to be a chatterbox like you. Doesn’t it run in the family?”

“Let me know if you find something.” Sukuna was ready to have Ume end the call and he could practically feel them hovering over the button.

“Will do. And the same goes for you. Keep me in the loop.”

The call ended and the touch screen in his right eye disappeared along with it. “Where the hell did Jin go?”

“Is he not home?” Yuuji tilted his head.

“No. And I have no clue where else he would be.” Where would he go if not home? Jin never stayed late at Lemniscate now that it’s well established. If he did have to work late he finally did get in the habit of taking it home now. Well, that Sukuna knew of. He never understood how Jin turned out to be such a workaholic.

“Uh… what about Sun Poke?”

Sukuna had to take a second to think on the nonsense his nephew just said before replying with a genuine, “What?”

“That place Dad owns,” Yuuji was the picture of concentration as he tried to recall something, “Sun Poke or something. The one with the mermaids. He said they were going to have an event there soon. Maybe he’s already working on it?”

At the mention of mermaids, Sukuna thought his nephew was finally losing it and maybe he should take a detour back to the hospital to have Yuuji get a reexamination. A place that Jin owns. Called… Sun Poke? With mermaids? Wait…

“Sunfish Pocket.”

“Yeah! That’s the place!”

“How did you get Sun Poke from that? That’s not even close.”

“I got the ‘Sun’ part right. Give me some credit.”

“Congrats. You got one half of a word right. I’m surprised you knew the word in the first place.”

“You’re the worst,” Yuuji mumbled out as he sulked in the passenger seat. Sukuna weaved them out of their current route and onto their destination of the mentioned maid café.

Chapter 15: November 2nd, 2019 – 10:20PM – Sunfish Pocket

Notes:

Tw corpse

They're looking at & describing a corpse here. As well as some of the wounds the body sustained, but nothing super graphic yet I don't think. Let me know if y'all think otherwise. Again, it's not really something you can skip over since it's relevant to the plot as a whole.

Located in the Chiyoda District, the underwater themed maid café was tucked away on the second floor of the shared building in Akihabara. The door from the outside was still unlocked so getting inside and up the stairs was easy enough. The actual door to the café was locked up for the night, but that wasn’t going to stop him.

“Turn around,” Sukuna threw the command Yuuji’s way as he knelt down beside the door.

“Please don’t break it,” Yuuji pleaded.

Sukuna looked over to his nephew, “Turn around.”

The teen grumbled a bit but did as he asked. It didn’t take Sukuna nearly as much time as he expected to get the lock picked. The door swung inward to the short hallway ending in double doors that were reminiscent of traditional partition doors despite them having handles.

“You know how to pick a lock?!”

Sukuna didn’t bother the exclamation with an acknowledgement as he heaved himself up and moved past the cute decals of sea imagery on the walls.

“Hey! Don’t ignore me!”

Yuuji hadn’t followed after. Whatever. If he wanted to have his little bit of defiance, then so be it. Sukuna grabbed one of the door handles pushing it inward. There was no point in locking these doors anyway. They were just for show. It was dark inside with only the dim light of the night pouring in from the west windows. Go figure, wouldn’t be the first time Jin worked with the lights off because he got ‘too into it’ as he would say and forgot to turn them on. There was a glint of the night light hitting metal out of the corner of his eye. Over near the counter, above it-

Sukuna had dealt with plenty of dead bodies before. It’s nothing he isn’t used to. He’d say that he has a stronger tolerance than most when it came to dealing with them. But this is the first time he’s felt himself frozen. His thoughts ceasing altogether. Refusing to accept that what he’s looking at is reality. It couldn’t be. Why? Why? A part of him was dying too. He could feel it. His lungs were burning in his chest. Dragging him down into his grave.

There was some muffled noise beside him. Why? Why did this happen? Sukuna was dying. He could feel it. Just like-

Sukuna! Ume’s voice cut through his mind making him take a breath involuntarily. The air stung his oxygen deprived lungs. Yuuji is still here!

Shit. Sukuna caught the edge of the door with the back of his heel slamming it shut behind them. He lunged for the wide-eyed teen beside him covering his eyes with his left hand and backing them up against a wall. He curled his nephew’s trembling form towards his chest and away from facing what he should have never seen. The gun in his right hand a heavy reminder that Sukuna was here. This was reality. That was Jin’s corpse hanging from a hook like a prized fish. It was digging into the roof of his brother’s mouth. His left eye unseeing in death and the right an empty void. His lungs were burning again. He could feel phantom metal digging into the roof of his mouth.

Sukuna. Another breath tore through his pleading lungs. Your stress levels are skyrocketing. Stop. Looking. At. Him.

The detective wrenched his eyes anywhere else in the café. Anywhere but the counter. A shaky semblance of a coherent thought passing through as his mind started to clear.

Did you call MPD? A local unit?

Yes. They are enroute and should be here in about fifteen minutes.

It was the most agonizing fifteen minutes of his life. He had to keep catching himself from looking at it again. But he couldn’t escape it completely. The smell of death choking and digging its way inside him. The death of his brother. His brother was dead. Jin was dead.

Sukuna heard the unit coming up the stairs before he saw them out of the corner of his eye burst through the main entrance. Local police poured into the café. There was someone in front of him talking to him, but he didn’t hear it. He had bigger priorities. Sukuna tucked his gun away, grabbed the guy in front of him by his police uniform and shoved him towards the entrance. The nameless officer looked at him with trepidation. “You’re taking us to Central Hospital,” somehow Sukuna’s voice retained that edge of authority to it. He didn’t wait for the guy to answer as he started walking forward, maneuvering Yuuji so his eyes were still covered but that he was moving in the same direction. The officer got the picture before Sukuna had to get physical again and started scrambling out the entrance.

Sukuna uncovered his nephew’s eyes once they were in the main building outside the café and settled it on his shoulder to keep him moving. He only shifted it again when they made it to the nameless officer’s car to watch Yuuji’s head as he climbed into the open car door. Sukuna had to push the teen further inside to make room for himself and shut the door behind him. The detective reached over and grabbed the seatbelt across from Yuuji.

“I can-“ his nephew didn’t get to finish his sentence as Sukuna clicked the belt into place for him. Sukuna mirrored the action on himself. The officer started pulling away from the scene. The city lights passed by as his mind tried to keep itself together. To not think too hard about what he saw. What he ran from. There was a pressure on his arm. Yuuji was holding it but staring ahead at nothing. Sukuna resumed looking out his window.

It wasn’t suicide. That much I can guarantee.

Then who killed him? It wasn’t an answer he was going to get right now, but he’d be damned if he didn’t find out who did it. There was no other option.

Notes:

I did say this was a string of murders in the summary. :)

Chapter 16: November 3rd, 2019 – 9:17AM - Police Headquarters

The festive decorations of Yuki’s brightly covered office did nothing to elevate the depressing atmosphere for its three occupants. Yuki was sitting on her desk, Suguru and Sukuna on the comfortable chairs she had out. The somberness had been here before Sukuna had arrived. The detective was taking a minute to finally have some time away from the brat. He was going to savor every second of it.

“How’s Yuuji?” Yuki was the first to break the silence.

“Don’t ask,” Sukuna pinched the bridge of his nose. The brat had been nothing but a nightmare to deal with all night and this morning. The fact he was able to get him to stay at the elevator and not have him follow into Yuki’s office was nothing short of a miracle. At least it hadn’t been close to that absolute fit the brat had thrown when Sukuna had tried to leave the hospital this morning.

“That bad?” She shook her head, “I can’t blame him. No kid should have to see their own parents like that.”

Sukuna sat back in his seat. “Let’s cut right to it. I’m not giving up this case, so don’t bother asking.”

Yuki huffed a singular laugh, “Oh, I know you wouldn’t.” She let out a sigh, “Not when it was Jin of all people.” Hearing his name out loud felt hollow. Much like it had been all night and this morning as it rattled around in Sukuna’s head robbing him of any sleep. Yuki continued, “The fact that his right eye was removed tells me this is the same person who killed Kaori.”

“’The New Cyclops Killer,’” added Suguru’s monotonal statement.

Sukuna looked to the engineer who gave a small shrug. “It’s the nickname that’s spread around at headquarters. To distinguish it from the one from six years ago.” Suguru ran a hand over his face as he said, “It’s all over the news. ‘The killings from six years ago have continued. The Cyclops Killer is back.’”

“We don’t know that,” Yuki noted with disapproval.

“But you don’t know that for sure,” Sukuna chimed in, “The killer was never caught after all. They could be continuing where they left off.”

Yuki’s brow furrowed slightly. “The M.O. is completely off. If it had been Kaori and another woman that was killed, I would be more inclined to consider it. But Jin breaks up any semblance of that pattern continuing or evolving from what it was previously.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Sukuna quickly replied. The pulsing behind his eyes was back. He was going to get a headache soon. “If it’s enough for a few people to make a connection, then we need to consider it a possibility.”

The ABIS leader tapped her nails against her desk.

“I agree with him,” Suguru having reclined into the back of his chair instead of sitting forward. There were deep bags under his eyes. “Even if it’s unlikely, we should consider it a possibility.”

Yuki tapped her nails against her desk a few seconds longer and then nodded to herself. “Okay. I personally don’t see that this could be connected, but maybe you can find a connection that I haven’t.” She looked to Sukuna, “We’ll start from the top. Suguru helped with the case at the time so he can fill in anything I might miss.”

Sukuna pushed the pulsing behind his eyes to the corner of his awareness. He needed to focus on the new information. Maybe it would have something insightful. His full attention was on Yuki as she began.

“HQ named it the ‘Original Cyclops Serial Killings.' Like Suguru said, this was to distinguish it from this new one. Six years ago in October, four bodies were found in the mountains of Akikawa Valley. All of them young women. A few days after the bodies were discovered, the killer sent a statement to the press.” She adjusted her position crossing one leg over the other, “It said something along the lines of ‘I killed them, and they are now my dear companions.’ The statement itself was signed under the name ‘Cyclops.’ Which is where the ‘Cyclops Killer’ name comes from.”

“Wasn’t the decomposition of them different too?” Suguru inquired.

Yuki nodded. “That’s right. The bodies were all at different stages of decomposition. Placing their deaths sometime between May and September of that same year.”

“Was the statement legit? It wasn’t a fake or a fanatic?” Sukuna added his own inquiry.

“It had to be,” Suguru wearily answered instead, “A picture of one of the women right after she was killed was sent with it.”

So the killer had been taking pictures of the victims. Maybe it was on a whim for the one victim or maybe they’d taken more of the other victims for their own enjoyment of it, but it was certainly a trophy of some kind.

“How they were killed varied. We didn’t find a pattern there. Though the victims did all have two things in common,” Yuki raised her index finger as she listed off, “One: they were all women, and two, “she raised a second finger, “they all had their left eye removed after they were killed.”

And that’s where the ‘Cyclops’ part came into play. Those eyes were the real trophies. He could see how the connection would be made between the two cases. …but Yuki was right. There were too many inconsistencies. The timing of the deaths were spread out over months at a time. Not days apart. Switching what eye the killer took could be considered an evolution of their trophies, along with moving onto older women, but Jin didn’t fit into any of it. Not to mention the eyes being removed before they died instead of after like the Original Cyclops. They could be dealing with an admirer of the original killer since the deaths of the women were publicized via the news. Either way, the likelihood it was the same killer as before seemed very unlikely.

Ume, is there anything else in the investigation records?

I had a look while you were talking. I did not find any other relevant information that was not already discussed. There were some amateur theories on the internet but they all lack credibility.

The pulsing was back again in the forefront of his mind. Sukuna bit back his sigh and shook his head. “Is there any new info on Jin?”

“Nope. That’s all we have for now. The autopsy report was uploaded on the database for Ume to access whenever.”

Then there was no reason to stay here. The detective pushed himself off the chair to stand. “I’m heading to Sunfish Pocket. I’ll see if I can find anything.”

“Sukuna,” Yuki’s voice was sincere, “you’re exhausted. Why don’t you get some sleep before you continue investigating?”

“I’ll be fine.” Sukuna headed for the door. As if resting would help at all. Like he didn’t see his brother’s corpse burned into the back of his eyelids. He needed answers. Not to sit around doing nothing.

“Be careful,” Yuki called after him with that same concern.

“Don’t get hurt,” Suguru tacked on as Sukuna left.

Notes:

I don't believe I've mentioned this at all, but Sukuna does not have his facial tattoos in this AU which, due to plot reasons, I will elaborate on later. He does have the rest of his body tattoos though.

Chapter 17: November 3rd, 2019 – 10:01AM - Police Headquarters Parking Lot

Notes:

I think it's always fun to see Yuuji actually acting like a brat if only b/c you would think Sukuna is being a little harsh with calling him that, but then he actually does it and it's like ah, so he did earn that nickname.

The sun shone down on the parking lot warming up what I could of the chilly autumn air. The semi-filled lot had some officers and civilians alike coming and going from the main building. One such pair emerged out of the entrance and made their way down the steps. Both had a tired, but tense air about them. Following them all the way as they reached the rows of automobiles.

“You’re going to investigate Dad’s murder, right?” the brat asked pointedly without waiting for an answer, “Take me with you! I can help.”

Sukuna could feel that headache starting to settle in. He didn’t pause nor look at the brat as they neared his parked car. “I’m taking you back to the hospital.”

Yuuji stopped in his tracks, “No you’re not!”

“I didn’t ask for your input,” Sukuna turned on his heel to meet the brat’s glare with his own, "You’re going to the hospital. End of story."

"No," it came out scathing like his little fit from earlier.

"Yuuji," Sukuna matched him with a searing retort. The brat didn’t move nor drop his heated glare from his, but Sukuna could see he was tensing up further as he closed the distance between them. The detective put one firm hand on the brat’s shoulder as he leaned in, “You are testing what little patience I have left. You’re going back to the hospital.” Sukuna pointed behind him, "Get in the car." Yuuji kept eye contact for one second longer before breaking it to stare down at the concrete.

“No,” it wasn’t nearly as defiant but it wasn’t by choice given the brat was still glaring downwards, “I don’t want to mope around there all day.”

"Yuuji-"

“I can talk this time! I don’t need to be there,” the brat glanced up at him for a second before flicking back downwards, “I can help.”

If he wasn’t currently on the verge of having an aneurism, Sukuna would have given Yuuji credit for not immediately folding. That defiant attitude was years in the making after all. It was something he would have encouraged more of at any other time if it weren’t currently so inconvenient.

“Is that supposed to convince me to bring you to a crime scene?”

“Well, maybe I’ll notice something you wouldn’t.”

"Think I can’t do my damn job?"

“I didn’t say that!” a heated side eye flicked up to lock onto him, “Don’t twist my words! Maybe I’ll notice something only his son would know!”

They were both too exhausted to be having this exchange. But like hell Sukuna was going to just let it go entirely. Yuuji didn’t need to be near Sunfish Pocket again. Or ever again for that matter.

I think it would be best to take him with us.

Not you too. He needs to stay out of this.

I agree. But he’s not going to stay at the hospital if you try to force him. Therefore, it would be best if we take him with us. We can guarantee he doesn’t make any rash decisions if we have him in our line of sight. He was skeptical on how that would be their best option. But the brat wasn’t going to back down and neither was he at this point. Neither of them were willing to break this stalemate. I can’t say how helpful he will be, but perhaps he will notice something.

The burning desire to fight back melted away replacing it with an aching tiredness. Much like this morning at the hospital, he couldn’t force his nephew to do what he wanted. Not right now at least. Sukuna removed his hand from Yuuji’s shoulder and headed for the driver’s side of his car. “Just don’t interfere with the investigation. Otherwise, I’m taking you back. Kicking and screaming if I have to.” He popped open the door and slid into the seat. Behind him he heard the brat’s footsteps scurry over to the passenger side. The passenger door opened and Yuuji poked his head inside.

“You’ll take me with you?” the question wrapped in a cautious hope.

The engine purred to life. “Are you going to behave?”

“I will! I promise!” Yuuji exclaimed pulling himself fully inside and buckling his seat belt.

Notes:

Here are my notes I made on the last chapter and this one. It's on what happened in the time between ch. 15 and 16. Just didn't have a place to include them here or on the last one.

- Yuuji has been a nightmare for Sukuna to deal with all night/morning. Yuuji is very aggressive about not getting separated from his Uncle & I can’t blame him since the other two parental figures he had he just saw their corpses strung up.
- Yuuji almost punched a nurse for trying to give them separate rooms. Instead they got a spare bed into one of the private rooms. Sukuna laid out on the spare bed and was like “either go to sleep or I’m getting my own room.”
o Yuuji grabbed his arm at that and then eventually fell asleep.
o “You’re not leaving.”
(Yuuji)
o “Is that a threat?”
(Sukuna)
o “Maybe.”
(Yuuji)
- After a bit, Yuuji’s grip loosened enough for him to slip out and go get his car & come back. Luckily Yuuji didn’t wake up at all.
o Maybe Sukuna throws his jacket on him here? Just in case he does wake up.
- Sukuna didn’t get any sleep last night.
- Yuuji threw an absolute fit when Sukuna tried to leave him there in the morning. He just would not have it and was very aggressive about it. Sukuna doesn’t want to actually fight him & is too exhausted so he’s like fine fuck it whatever and brings him to the office.
- Yuuji is sitting at the elevator because Sukuna wouldn’t let him come any further and had to be like “Yuuji, there is only one way to leave and it’s the elevator or the stairs. There is no way for you to miss me when I do.” I imagine the entryway to the stairs is right within line of sight of the elevator.

Chapter 18: November 3rd, 2019 – 10:33AM – Sunfish Pocket

Notes:

Tw corpse + wound descriptions

Technically there isn't a dead body here, but rather be safe than sorry. They're looking at what happened to Jin, so there's no real way to avoid this since it's plot relevant.

The morning light was pouring in from the west windows. There were only a few police officers stationed at the door while forensics worked. The entire building was shut down to ensure nothing or no one else disturbed the crime scene be it on purpose or by accident. Along the east side was the bar counter that ran almost all the way across the room from the side closest to the entrance to the other side of the room. Along the lower half of the counter were blue wave patterns and evenly spaced barrel shaped stools were set up waiting for customers that wouldn’t come today. Glass jellyfish hung from the ceiling that twinkled from where they caught bits of light. The rest of the floor plan had square tables, and occasionally a circle shaped one. Each had tucked in chairs and menus in their holders ready to be used.

Forensics, it was Kagami in charge of this one instead of that mousy one from before, didn’t have anything to report yet either. No fingerprints to trace either. Sukuna left him to his work near the counter and took a few steps back to get a better view on where the body had been hanging.

Ume. Can you show me the image of when we first discovered the corpse? Sukuna’s vision remained the same. There was a distinct lack of anything from the other. Ume?

Would you be opposed to me blurring his face?

That defeats the purpose of looking at it.

Then no.

Ume, I need to inspect the body. We need every lead we can get. Even if he hated the idea of having to look at that dead one-eyed stare. He needed the information. He couldn’t run from it.

I know. Instead, I can make a one-to-one recreation in cyberspace and show you it. It will take a few minutes.

Fine. So long as you don’t skip anything.

Sukuna crossed his arms as he regarded the four beer kegs on the ground near the counter. There were little black and white markers near them. The kegs had the numbers one through four lined up next to them while a marker labelled ‘B’ indicated they were to be grouped together. Jin had been hung up by four wires attached to a hook. Those wires had been attached to one of each of the kegs.

Each keg has a capacity of 20 liters. All four kegs were filled and approximately 55 pounds each.

Just enough weight to offset Jin’s and ensure he stayed strung up. Sukuna swept his gaze over the back counter. Nothing caught his eye until it snagged on the two oil drums at the end. There was a space between where the counter ended and the other side of the back wall. There was enough room for a table to be set up, but something in the back of his mind couldn’t drop the fact that the drums themselves seemed out of place. There was a small prickle at the back of his mind. Sukuna returned to looking where the body had been previously and an image filtered over his right eye. For a moment, his mind swapped out the blue figure in his mind’s eye for Jin. It was gone the next. There was a close up of a humanoid blue figure hanging by a thick, sturdy fishhook hitting the underside of the roof of its mouth. The four wires having been thrown over a beam to attach it to said hook. There was a distinct dark purple, almost black, across the neck and where its right eye would be.

Did they find his glasses?

No. There was nothing recovered at the scene.

So the killer took them off.

Most likely.

His eye caught on the corpse’s neck. The line running across it was clean. No blood or anything.

Strangulation?

Correct. The face shows clear signs of congestion, along with petechia along the face and throat. Both are clear evidence of asphyxiation.

Do we have a murder weapon? This wasn’t done by someone’s hands that was certain.

Most likely a twisted piece of cloth. Given the injury that formed, the culprit approached Jin from behind and wrapped it around his neck. The specific cause of death is cerebral circulation failure due to vessel closure in the neck.

Yet there’s no signs of a struggle, right? Even if someone was willing to let someone else kill them, no one can completely turn off the primal part of their brain. When someone is backed up against a wall and death is imminent, you will start fighting to live at any cost. It’s the most basic animal instinct. Was there something else at play?

Yes. The autopsy report discovered the presence of benzodiazepine in the victim’s bloodstream. It is a common sedative. The dosage found in his blood was extremely high. We can assume that Jin’s cognitive functions were heavily impaired before his death. Sukuna could believe that. It made more sense why he wouldn’t have tried to fight. I would also like to add that the autopsy report indicates that the contents of the victim’s intestines were excreted upon death. But no traces of that have been found in the area nor on the corpse itself.

Gross. But that also meant- He was killed somewhere else and brought here.

The evidence does point to that conclusion.

Do we have a TOD?

The estimated time of death was yesterday around 8:00PM.

Jin was murdered about two hours before they discovered his body. With how much set up there was involved here it’s a miracle the killer didn’t get caught. His focus shifted to the dark purple void of the blue figure’s right eye.

And the eye?

Similar to Kaori, it was removed while the victim was still alive. We have not recovered it either.

Hmm. Sukuna took one more look over the image in his mind eye before closing it out. The café came back into focus and with it he shifted his attention over to where his curiosity had landed earlier. He stepped past the kegs closer to where the counter ended. The two dull green colored oil drums were pushed near the back of the wall.

Ume. It didn’t take long at all for a teal layer of color to wash over his vision and reveal the inside of the drums. The left one had nothing inside it. The right one had something small enough to fit in your hand scrunched up inside it. His vision returned to normal as he reached for the lid of both drums. Already having put on gloves before stepping inside the café. The leftmost one was empty as expected. The right one revealed a twinkle of gold with a black circle in the middle of it. Sukuna reached inside and pulled it out. The small hands on the face of the watch were still ticking so it wasn’t broken, but the clasp was completely busted. That answered his next question on how they could have moved a dead body through here.

The killer overlooked Jin’s watch falling off. He could count the number of times he hadn't seen Jin wearing it faster than not. There was no doubt it was his brother’s.

Or they ran out of time.

Sukuna tucked the watch into his coat pocket. There was no way he was parting with it anytime soon. This oversight was a huge gain for them.

The capacity of this oil drum is 200 liters. It weighs approximately 44 pounds when empty.

And they did take the elevator up. He looked towards the fake partition doors they came through. Can you- Yuuji was staring up at the space above the four beer kegs. He’d been notably quiet since getting here. Hold on.

Yuuji didn’t react when Sukuna closed the distance blocking his view of where the body had once been. “Hey,” Sukuna knocked the back of his hand against his nephew’s shoulder startling him out of his distant stare into actually looking at Sukuna. “If it’s too much for you, you can wait in the hallway.”

Yuuji glanced off to the side, “I’m fine.”

Yet here he was trying to face something he didn’t have to. “No one’s forcing you to do this.”

“I said I’m fine!” The brat’s tone turned harsh, “Why don’t you listen for once?”

“What was that?” Sukuna plastered on a fake smile, “You want to go back to the hospital? I’d be happy to take you.”

The threat had its intended effect: the bratty attitude dropped. In its place was a lingering guilt that followed the brat’s words, “Sorry. I-“ There was a beat of quiet before he finished with, “I’m not trying to be difficult.” It sounded sincere enough. Then again, Yuuji was never any good at deception.

“Let me know if you notice anything,” he stepped past Yuuji, “And don’t touch anything.” There was a grumbled acknowledgement from the brat that he was going to overlook just this once. Sukuna glanced up at the security camera in the corner.

Did you get anything from the surveillance camera?

Unfortunately, no. It almost sounded like they were sighing. All of the recordings from local surveillance equipment had been erased.

What about backups?

There are none. Nothing was uploaded to the cloud either.

Damn. This killer was thorough, he’d give them that. That also meant that someone had to know how to get to the security footage in the first place. His gaze went to the entrance.

Can you check the operations record for the elevator?

One moment. There was a minute of silence on their end as they conducted their search. Found it. The elevator records are sent automatically to building management. According to the record from yesterday, from 6:30PM until the body was found this elevator stopped on the second floor only once. At 8:55PM. The weight of the car’s cargo was approximately 372 pounds.

If we factor in both the oil drum and Jin’s weight, we have about 240 pounds that make up that total.

Leaving us with 132 pounds unaccounted for.

It wasn’t much, but it was better than what they had started with. He took one more look around the place, but nothing else stood out to him of note.

I think we’ve checked everything of interest here.

I agree. We should compile our evidence and inferences.

“Yuuji, we’re leaving.”

“Hold on! I thought of something!”

“And what would that be?” Sukuna held back his doubts that it’d be anything useful.

“Nobara works for Lemniscate and she knew a lot of the people who worked here. Maybe she knows more about the event they were planning.”

“That’s it?”

“Dad could have gone by the office yesterday too. Maybe she saw him.”

The connections he was drawing were loose at best. The teen just wanted to see his friend.

“Can I use your phone to call her?”

“Her phone is broken. She dropped it in a puddle.”

“Oh...”

“Any idea where she might be on a Sunday?”

Yuuji shrugged, “Maybe she’s home?” A sparkle of recollection flashed in his eyes, “She might be at Lemniscate. She’s been working sometimes on Sunday, but she hasn’t been consistent about it.”

“Anything else?”

“Megumi did help with fixing the sound system in Sunfish Pocket sometimes, so maybe he’d know something more about the place.”

That wasn’t even close to a connection. Sukuna grabbed his phone from his pocket, unlocking it and handing it over to his nephew. “Call him.”

Yuuji took it and quickly tapped out the phone number raising it to his ear. The longer the ringing went on the more the teen's expression turned befuddled. He must have hit the voice messaging system because he said, “Hey Megumi! It’s Yuuji. I’m using my uncle’s phone; mine’s having some problems. Could you call back this number when you get a minute? Talk soon!” The teen ended the call and handed it back. “He usually picks up…”

Sukuna returned his phone to his pocket. “I’ve never called him before, so it’s not like he would recognize the number.”

“I guess you’re right,” Yuuji still wearing that thoughtful look.

“We’ll see if he’s home. First, we’ll go by Nobara’s, then Megumi’s, and then Lemniscate. Sound good?”

“Yup! Let’s go!”

You’re being quite indulgent.

Want to elaborate?

Oh, it’s nothing. You’re just being very considerate of him.

Don’t know what you’re talking about.

Notes:

Sukuna: I need you to bring up my brother's corpse and re-traumatize me.
Ume, baffled: No??

-----
A few personal notes:

1) I'm of the belief that Yuuji prefers to call people over texting them.
2a) Kagami is a character from the game. The running gag with him is that no one can ever remember his name, so I find it really funny that it took someone being outside of his franchise to remember his name properly.
2b) The mousy forensics from the first chapter I was considering having it be a JJK character that has taken on the burden of Kagami's running gag. Except in this case Sukuna just- does not care to learn their name. Like he's worked with them before but refuses to remember their name. I thought maybe it would be Ijichi, but I'm undecided. Interpret it as you will.
3) When i was trying to figure out Jin's weight I also had to figure out Sukuna's b/c they're twins and if I had a base line for Sukuna I could have a better idea for Jin's. So I was looking at a lot of WWE wrestler's cause I feel like he'd be more physically fit then Jin mostly b/c of the nature of both their work (Jin's being less so, but he could get as much muscle as Sukuna if he really tried). I always imagined Sukuna is around 6'2" or 6'3" and around 230 pounds give or take. And a good majority of that is muscle.
4) In reference to #3 above, here are some of the wrestler's I found that are around 230 pounds and are either 6'2" or taller:
Alexander Wolfe
Alex Riley
Alberto Del Rio
Cesaro
Curtis Axel
Luchasaurus (This guy wears a mask & has a bunch of tattoos - it's cool as hell)
Heath Slater
R-Truth

Chapter 19: November 3rd, 2019 – Kugisaki Diner

Notes:

For this chapter and the next few, I will not be putting a time stamp in the title b/c at this point in the game you had a few locations to go to that you could do in any order. I don't want to put myself through trying to figure that out logistically b/c I will go insane if I try to. So for this chapter through until the next time stamp in the title is when these chapters take place.

The weathered partition doors slid along their tracks as Yuuji let himself inside the diner with Sukuna right behind. There was an elderly couple eating at a low table in the corner on a raised platform that ran along that side of the wall. He’s surprised that they get any customers. It might have been years later since the chemical plant explosion occurred, but being right next to the Kabasaki district had to be bad for business. No one wanted to go close to it even if this district was declared safe. Behind the back counter was someone reading a newspaper which Yuuji walked right up to.

“Mrs. Kugisaki?” the newspaper lowered to reveal Mayumi, “Hi! I’m Yuuji Itadori, Nobara’s friend,” he gestured to Sukuna on his left, “This is my Uncle, Sukuna Itadori. We were wondering if she might be here?”

The woman’s eye flicked over to him and back to his nephew. “Ah, I should have put together that you two are related.” She folded the newspaper and set it on the counter as she regarded them without getting up from her chair. “So what’s she in trouble for now?”

“She’s not in trouble, ma’am. We just want to talk to her.”

“Tough luck for you then. She’s not here.”

Sukuna held back his sigh as he opted for the more diplomatic approach. He pulled out one of his business cards handing it over for her to take, “If she comes back before we find her, can you have her call my number? It shouldn’t take long.”

Mayumi took the offered business card. Wariness painted her features. “Do I get to know what this is all about?”

“It’s nothing serious!” Yuuji quickly replied and the attention went to him. “She may be able to iron out some details on an investigation is all. I swear it’s nothing bad.”

The elderly woman gazed at the teen for a half second longer before turning it on him. “Well? Anything else to add to that?”

“Nope,” Sukuna gave back with a finality that he wasn’t going to say anymore.

“Alright alright,” Mayumi waved at the both of them as she picked up her newspaper, “I’ll let her know. Now get out of here.”

Notes:

If you're wondering why Yuuji is bothering to introduce himself, it's because Mayumi (Nobara's Grandma) has a very bad memory. To the point where she has met Yuuji & Megumi before but some days she swears she's never met them. She also has been prone to mistaking Nobara for being her daughter instead of her grand-daughter. [Yes this is bordering on dementia.] I like to think that Nobara is very protective of her about it so she gave the boys the run down of "If she says you didn't tell her- you didn't tell her! Do NOT embarrass her or I'll kick you ass!!"

Chapter 20: November 3rd, 2019 – Fushiguro Residence

Notes:

A lot of this chapter is Yuuji just off to the side trying to comprehend the fact that Sukuna had friends when he was younger. The fact that it's Hitomi and that she still considers them friends is a little harder to wrap his head around since she's inherently nice and Sukuna is... Sukuna.

The two-story home in the Meguro district was that same gaudy yellow that he remembered. Along with the lone palm tree growing out front and the lamppost on the street corner. Even the front door looked the same, but with a new paint job. The door bell could have been new. It was hard to tell since he’d never really bothered with it. The newly painted brown door opened inward to reveal Hitomi wearing a comfy sweater but no headband. Though a small smile crept onto her face when she saw Yuuji, and it widened the slightest when she spotted Sukuna just behind him, it didn’t hide the air of exhaustion surrounding her contradicting the chipper attitude she pushed outwards.

“Well, what a surprise. What brings the Itadori’s to my abode?”

“Wait, you know him?” Yuuji asked as he glanced behind himself at Sukuna and back to Hitomi.

“Unfortunately,” Sukuna shrugged. Hitomi was the only one to witness it and with that artificial chipperness said, “Oh, don’t be like that. We’re good friends.”

“I wouldn’t say we’re friends per say,” Sukuna couldn’t help falling into old habits of denying her friendship. Even all these years later it was still easy to do. Which seemed to be the case for Hitomi too as she confidently stated, “But I would!”

“Okay…” Yuuji dragged out. He had stepped to the side so he could see them both during their exchange. “But how do you know each other?”

“We went to high school together,” she sing-songed. “Good to see you’re still the same.”

“The hell does that mean?” The question came out more accusing than he meant it to. It rolled right over her as she replied, “Still as grumpy as ever.” She addressed his nephew, “Don’t let it get to you. It’s just how he shows he cares.”

“How did you get that as me caring?” The detective meandered over the little distance there was and settled against the door frame.

“Ohohoho! Did I hit the truth? No need to be so defensive.”

“Don’t put ideas in this brat’s head.”

“He’s not a brat!” Hitomi put her hands on her hips as she stared up at him. “He’s been nothing but polite whenever he’s over.”

“So he pulled another sucker in, did he?”

Hitomi sighed and shook her head, “Jin would back me up.”

The lighter mood crashed right into the pavement. A disapproving frown tugged at his mouth. He saw Yuuji look away out of the corner of his eye. “You really have no tact, Hitomi,” spitting out the venom burning in his veins at the reminder. Jin wouldn’t back her up. He wouldn’t do anything ever again. Not even half a second had passed as Hitomi picked up the change in both his and Yuuji’s demeanor that her tone turned serious, “Did something happen?”

The question burned something inside him. Something ugly and festering. Did something happen? He wanted her to burn too. “Jin’s dead.”

Shock flashed across her face for a brief moment at the cruel truth unceremoniously thrown at her feet. She recovered swiftly- the shock swapping out going right to acceptance. Hitomi turned her attention to Yuuji who was still staring off to the side pulling at a stray thread on his hoodie.

“Yuuji,” he didn’t look at her but he did move his head indicating he was listening, “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t know,” the words sounded almost neutral if he didn’t know any better. Sukuna internally cursed at himself. His nephew had been collateral in his pursuit to spew out his own hurt on someone else. Sukuna held that frustration inside lest he cause more unfortunate causalities.

“Even if I didn’t know, it was insensitive of me,” sincerity seeping in from Hitomi. Those words hit their mark as the teen finally meet her gaze. Hitomi took one step out of the door way and she had barely raised her arms before Yuuji was returning her hug. “You’re gonna be okay.” Yuuji curled into the hug the slightest bit more. “I know it doesn’t feel like it right now, but you will be.”

Sukuna kept his eyes elsewhere. He pretended not to see the teen quickly wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve when the two finally stepped back. Within the threshold of her home once more, Hitomi addressed him. “Sukuna.”

“Don’t.” He straightened up from where he’d been leaning and crossed his arms. He didn’t want her pity.

“I know you don’t want to hear it.”

“Then don’t say it.”

Hitomi placed a hand on his arm, “I’m sorry.”

Sukuna glanced off into the foliage on the side of the house, “You really have no tact at all.” There was no heat behind his words.

Hitomi pulled her hand back, “Maybe not. But I’m not taking it back.” An edge of sunniness returned, “Now, I know you wouldn’t come here just to tell me all this. So how can I help?”

“Uh,” Yuuji started, “We were trying to see if Megumi is home. Is he?”

“Ah shoot,” She looked behind her to the inside of her home for a second, “You just missed him. He went to visit his Dad so he won’t be back for quite a while.”

“Ah,” Yuuji turned to him, “I think I remember him saying he might go see his Dad this weekend. He’s usually there all day. And he doesn’t answer his phone when he does.”

“Hmm.” It was more likely that Megumi couldn’t use his phone while he was visiting given that Toji Fushiguro is currently an inmate at Fuchu Prison and has been serving time there for the past six years. Then again, these two didn’t know he’d done background checks on Yuuji’s friends years ago. Sukuna pulled out one of his business cards and held it towards the tired woman, “Can you let us know when he gets back? You can call my number.”

There was a sparkle in Hitomi’s eyes as she took the card, but Sukuna didn’t let go initially. “Don’t make me regret this.” And the detective let her take it.

She gave a mock salute, “I promise to use it responsibly. I’ll let you know when he comes home.” She stepped back to gesture inside, “Would you like-“ Sukuna turned his back and made down the home’s pathway. “-to stay for a bit?”

“No. We’re busy.”

Hitomi raised her voice as he kept walking, “Are you sure?”

Sukuna raised his voice in return, “Positive.”

Both her and his nephew quickly exchanged a few words before he heard Yuuji catching up behind him. “Bye Mrs. Fushiguro!”

“Bye Yuuji! Bye Sukuna!”

The detective raised a hand in acknowledgement without breaking his stride.

Notes:

I always imagine Hitomi as being somewhere between 5'-5'4", so do with that what you will. A backstory element that I've carried over for our Hitomi here is that she lost both her parents at 17 in an accident when she was still attending high school. This would be around 1995. If anyone is going to understand losing your parents at around Yuuji's age, it's gonna be her.

I've also decided that back in those high school years, Hitomi didn't invite people over after the accident because she didn't want people looking at her with pity. She got that enough at school when the news broke. Sukuna on the other hand got into more verbal fights with Wasuke near the later half of high school. One time he had stormed out and as it got closer to evening he didn't want to go back home so he showed up at Hitomi's home and asked if he could stay on her couch or something and that he'd be gone in the morning. She let him stay the night and Sukuna didn't say anything about how empty her home felt. Which kind of opened the door for her inviting him over if he had the time. I imagine if he had taken her up on her invitations that their hang outs were very low key.

Chapter 21: November 3rd, 2019 – Lemniscate

Notes:

On the plus side: we get to see Tsumiki. Downside: even she's pretty bummed out by Jin's death. :/

That same quiet pop music greeted them along with a glum looking Tsumiki at the receptionist desk. She looked out of place among the brightly lit office space. Her expression lightened the faintest when she spotted Yuuji who gave a cheery greeting as they came through the entrance.

“Hi Yuuji,” not quite as cheery as his nephew, but a small smile adorned her face. She gave Sukuna a small bow, “Hello Officer Itadori.”

The teen pushed his palms against the desk, “Is Nobara working today? We’ve been trying to find her.”

“She is,” the receptionist glanced at her screen, “She’s pretty busy today. Do you need to talk to her? I can let her know you’re here.”

Yuuji waved the suggestion off. “No. If she’s busy I don’t want to interrupt her. She probably wouldn’t come out anyway.”

And there goes his nephew’s ‘leads’ he came up with. Well, there was one left. “Did Jin come by here yesterday?”

Somberness returned to her as Tsumiki turned to him. “No, he didn’t.”

“What time did you arrive at Lemniscate yesterday?”

“Um, I usually get here around 8AM. We open at 8:30AM.”

“Was there any point in time where you were not at the front desk?”

Tsumiki contemplated his question for a moment. “No. I don’t think so. I see everyone who comes through here.”

Sukuna jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, “Is that the only entrance?”

“There’s a back door, but it only opens one way.”

“Were you here ‘til closing?”

“Yes. We close a little early on Saturday’s, so everyone had left by 5PM.”

“Yourself included?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go home?”

“Uh, no. I hung out with some friends at some café’s and then stayed the night at Rie’s. She’s one of the friends I hung out with.”

I’ve checked Lemniscate’s security footage for yesterday as well. Jin did not appear on any of it; including after business hours. And there goes Yuuji’s last ‘suggestion.’ At least it wasn’t a total bust. They could rule out that Jin came by Lemniscate. Then again, that didn’t help with figuring out where else he could have been yesterday. They didn’t have any strong leads to go off of neither. Seems like as good as time as any to pay Mama a visit and see if she had any good info. Sukuna slipped out a business card and handed it to the receptionist, “Call me if you hear anything about where Jin was yesterday in the evening.”

Tsumiki stared down at the business card in her hands. “You’re looking into who did that to Mr. Itadori? What they said on the news about him.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry if this is rude or if you can’t tell me, but,” her voice carried sorrow filled hesitation, “did they really do that to his body?”

“Hang it up, you mean?” The teen supplied before Sukuna could get the chance to consider saying anything. Tsumiki nodded.

“Yeah,” Yuuji scratched his cheek and nodded in a resigned way, “Yeah, it was pretty bad.”

“How awful…” the receptionist looked down for a second before looking back to Yuuji. “Are you doing okay?” Tsumiki’s face scrunched up a bit with regret, “That was a stupid question. Sorry.”

“No, no! It’s okay!” The teen’s words rushed out, “I mean no- I’m not great, but it’s nice that you asked.”

“In any case,” Sukuna interjected, “contact me if you hear anything about where he was yesterday. Any information would be helpful.”

There were little dots of shine at the corner of her eyes though no tears fell. She gave another bow in Sukuna’s direction. “I will. Thank you for looking into this.” And there was the result of Jin’s effect on others. While Sukuna blocked them out, his brother had knack for drawing others in. He wouldn’t be surprised if everyone at the company was a mess right now. Always leaving little impressions that left others wondering what was missing.

“Don’t worry about it, Tsumiki,” there was his nephew running his mouth again. Sukuna was already going for the front doors, “Come on brat. We’ve got places to be.” The glass doors slid open, closed, and then open again as said teen rushed out to catch up to him.

“Where are we going?” Yuuji asked as he walked beside him.

“We need leads and I know a place.”

“That sounds shady.”

“It is shady,” a smirk twisted his lips, “Getting cold feet? Are you not feeling well?”

Yuuji openly glared, “No. I feel fine.” His pace quickened to outpace him. The teen did little to hide his irritation. “I can handle whatever shady place you frequent.”

And because Sukuna loves pissing his nephew off for no reason he decided to reply, “Whatever you say, little mouse.”

Yuuji whirled around with a fire in his eyes, “Do not call me that.”

The detective waked right past the heated glare. “Hmm, I thought I heard some squeaking. Maybe I misheard.”

“You’re the worst," the sour reply from behind him. 

Notes:

I realized that a good majority of the people I've had Sukuna interact with are women in this story. I think off the top of my head that there's maybe two other men that I can think of in the future that he'll interact with and one of them is a character from the game. Well I guess it'd be three depending on how you view their gender. In any case we get to see Mama next chapter. She's from the game too and I love her so much.

Also, Sukuna, you can't just start picking on Yuuji because you feel bad & don't know how to process your brother's death when it just happened yesterday.

Chapter 22: November 3rd, 2019 – Golden Yokocho

Notes:

I'm really unsure if I should tag the game characters that show up or not. I'm still on the fence about it, since they do play their own roles in all this but I'll see what I want to do later. There's only two I can think of that would have any important role (Mama included). For now I will not be doing so, but I think I'm leaning towards tagging them.

Nestled in Golden Yokocho of the Shinjuku district, was the small bar of Marble. The commercial street empty given it was the middle of the day. Most of the adult establishments didn’t open until way later. The faded purple of the signs outside the bar displayed the name ‘Marble’ in white font. Ivy crawled up the brickwork on either side of the singular front entrance. Despite all that, the door was unlocked which meant Mama had stepped out for a bit but would be back eventually. They might as well wait for her. It’s not like they had anywhere else to go.

Inside the bar, the purple tinged lighting was dimmed while the radio behind the counter was playing its usual music that Mama had somehow rigged to play the same song. The small space allowed for the bar and bar counter to take up most of the east side while the west side had enough space for four red, short couches. One set each facing the other with a low table in-between both. The far corner couch or the last stool in the back against the wall were the best by far, but they weren’t here to get comfortable. Of the six red bar stools bolted in place near the counter, Sukuna took the one closest to the door. Yuuji took the seat next to him on his left.

“Who are we meeting?” the teen was eyeing the whole place over with a wary energy.

“An informant of sorts.”

“And they are..?”

“You’ll see.” Sukuna didn’t elaborate further and Yuuji didn’t ask. In a way, it was nice to slow down for a minute. The radio was interrupted mid-song to broadcast news on the accident that occurred yesterday on Capital City Highway. They announced the details along with the arrest of the person suspected to have caused the accident, and the music returned after it finished. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yuuji had taken to pillowing his head on his crossed arms on the counter. The visual brought to mind the same one of countless times of him waiting in the same way at the dinner table after his help with cooking being rejected by Sukuna. He struggled to recall any meals they had shared recently. Mentally adding it to the list of things they’d fix after all this was settled. With that part of it squared away, he still couldn’t shake the surreal feeling of seeing his nephew in this place. Afterall, Marble was where Sukuna had broached the subject to Jin about Yuuji staying with him instead. Had it really been that long ago? Maybe this is what parents talk about when they say their kids grow up too fast.

Jin was the one who suggested it.

Wasn’t I the one who brought it up first?

No, the first time was Jin. Though you were never opposed to the idea, and for a brief time it was one of your favorite threats to use against him preceded by you telling Jin to, and I quote, ‘Get his shit together.’

Is it really a threat if we were both in agreement on it?

Depends on who you ask. It was excellent judgement on Jin’s part. Recently divorced, buried in work from Lemniscate, and generally mentally unstable – I’m glad he asked for your help.

Like he was going to get any help from Kaori. The bitter thought ended their conversation as the soft music from the radio took its place. Despite it being the same song, it had that comforting receptiveness with its lowkey beat to fill any silence. It was hard to tell how much time had passed before Sukuna was turning towards the door as it opened.

“Sukuna! Darling, it’s been too long,” Mama’s enthusiastic charm greeting him as she entered.

“Hey Mama. How’ve you been?” Sukuna answered. It had only been a few months since he’d visited last, but she was still the same as ever. Still decked in a flowing purple dress, tights and matching lipstick with the same cropped fake off-white fur coat and pearl necklace. Her short brown hair curling slightly in parts where it was long enough to do so.

Mama wearily waved her hand, “Tired and sore, but not in the fun way.”

“Watch it with the innuendos. There’s a kid here.”

“I’m not a kid!” Yuuji stood up behind him. He was expecting more heated words from the brat, but instead the voice behind him sounded almost shy, “Uh, hi. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh,” the hostess’ demeanor tinged with a sad understanding, “you’re Jin’s boy… I- It must have been hard.” One sniffle from her and Sukuna was reaching over and under the bar counter to grab some tissues that she kept tucked away, “I saw on the news.”

“It’s okay, really.” Yuuji quietly replied.

“Stupid Jin,” she wiped at the few tears that slipped out as Sukuna closed what little distance was between them in the bar and handed over the tissues, “Leaving his boy and his brother behind like that.” She dabbed at the stray tear tracks trying to not let them ruin her make-up further.

The detective let her calm herself down first before speaking. “I’m trying to find some leads on who could have done this to him. Think you’re up for some questions?”

Mama crumbled the used tissues. “I guess crying isn’t going to fix any of this, is it?” She moved for the side latch of the bar lifting it up to let herself in behind it and he followed suit back to his seat with Yuuji taking his as well. She rummaged a few things around behind the counter, “I won’t charge you this time. Just find the bastards who did this to him and we’ll call it even.” As if there was any other choice. She stood up one cloth in hand and that damned dried bonito fish in another. He never did get a straight answer from her on why she kept polishing that thing.

Well, no answers that weren’t some joke of the sexual variety. Usually directed at you.

Point taken.

“Ask away.” Mama’s expression was serious while her hands polished that damn fish.

“Have you heard any rumors on Jin? Anything that would paint a target on his back?” As much as Sukuna wanted to believe he knew everything about his brother, he had to go with the assumption that he could have been involved with something outside Sukuna’s awareness.

The hostess looked to the teen next to him with a slight knit of hesitation in her brow, “Is it okay to talk in front of Yuuji?”

“I want to hear about Dad too. I deserve to know just as much as him.” The teen sounded confident.

“Trust me, you wouldn’t be able to drag him away.” Sukuna added when Mama looked to him. “Go ahead.”

“If you say so…” That knit of her brow changed to serious once again. “Apparently, Jin had some connections with the Kumakura gang.”

What? Seriously? She might as well have slapped him with how stunned that info hit him. He- Why would he get involved with them? Jin had no business being a part of that world.

“Dad was involved with them too?”

Sukuna didn’t fully comprehended that he’d grabbed Yuuji’s sweatshirt before he was staring down the startled teen. “Why do you know that name?” He didn’t learn it from him. There was nothing left of that life for anyone to ever know. Not even Jin had known though he was sure he’d had suspicions. If Yuuji was involved with them, then they were going to have a completely separate conversation on how he would never have anything to do with them again. The brat would not get tangled in that world as long as he was under his roof. ...scratch that, even if he wasn’t living under his roof he wouldn’t let the brat screw himself over on this of all things. And he still hadn’t said a word. “Don’t make me repeat myself, brat.”

The teen was looking anywhere but at him, “Um-”

“Are you a part of that gang?”

“What?” that edge of fear retreated altogether, “No.”

“Are they making you work for them?”

The brat finally made annoyed eye contact, “No! I’m not doing anything for them.”

“Then answer the question.” Sukuna let go of his sweatshirt.

“You know how Mom is a representative of an investment company?” The brat cut himself off from his next sentence as he gave their third party an uncertain side-eye. Mama hardly seemed phased at either of them. “Sweetie, I know all about Kaori’s business. It’s nothing new to me.” That killed Yuuji’s uncertainty and he continued, “Apparently it was a big scam.”

“In what way?” It wasn’t news to Sukuna either but he’d play along.

“They start up a company for people to invest in it, and then shut it down on purpose and keep all the money.” The teen scratched at a groove on the wood counter. “She got really rich from it. If she ever got into trouble she had them take care of it. I saw them at her house a few times. I didn’t talk to them though.”

Figures. She did the same shit before she married Jin too. He didn’t care about how she got her money. He cared that she would let a kid be around gangsters at all. The blame was on him for thinking she could be a decent mother for once in her life, post-divorce. Thank whatever higher power that after the first few years of half-hearted attempts that she became completely disinterested and didn’t actively try to see Yuuji.

I’ve tried scanning crime databases for any reports on this and have not found anything substantial. They must have been extremely careful.

They had to be. Otherwise, they wouldn’t exist for long, now would they? Ume’s curiosity seeped through to him. The Ai had more questions, but they’d have to wait. “Is there anything else you know on what Jin was doing with the Kumakura’s?”

Mama hummed and paused her polishing, “Nothing specific. Or at least nothing they’d tell little old me.” Code for: if you want more, you’ll have to go ask them yourself. Easy enough.

“Has Jin come by here recently?”

“Hmm, no. I haven’t seen him here in a while. The last time was when you and him came by last month I think it was? Or maybe it was the month before that.”

From there they devolved into some small talk. Yuuji even added in some commentary. But most importantly it was enough time to make him standing up saying he was going to the bathroom believable. The teen had stood up as Sukuna went for the front door. “Where are you going?”

“Brat, you heard what I just said. Marble doesn’t have its own bathroom; they’re outside.” Sukuna had one hand on the door, “And you’re not following me in there.”

“But…” Yuuji wanted to argue on the topic that much was certain. He wasn’t getting any help from him on it.

Mama indicated for Yuuji to sit back down. “No need to be nervous sweetie. I don’t bite.” The teen reluctantly sat down but hadn’t stopped looking in Sukuna’s direction. “I’m only aggressive with men twenty through,” she made a thoughtful sound and then with a glimmer in her eye looked straight at Sukuna, “sixty-five.” He was going to ignore that.

“Don’t cause her trouble,” the sharpness snapping to Yuuji as the light of the day poured in.

“I won’t,” a dejected reply from his nephew as the door closed behind Sukuna. The adjustment from the dim bar to outside took a couple seconds for his eyes to blink away the twinge of pain. Once adjusted, he walked down the commercial street. Walking right past the bathrooms with his path set to where he’d parked earlier. Call Yuki. Ume established the connection and within two rings the ABIS leader picked up.

“What’s up?”

“Yuuji is at a bar called Marble in Golden Yokocho. Can you send someone to pick him up and take him home?”

“I’m surprised you let him tag along for so long. What changed?”

“I’m not taking him into a yakuza den.”

“Ah. Good call. I’ll send someone over.”

“Thanks.” The connection closed as Sukuna popped the driver side open and he slipped inside.

Are you sure you want to leave him here?

He’ll be fine with Mama.

That’s not what I meant. Yuuji is going to be very upset when he finds out you left him behind.

Tough. I’m not letting him get anywhere near the Kumakura’s.

Notes:

Fun facts about Mama: She was assigned male at birth and she identifies as gender neutral. Part of the game shows mini profiles on people you've met so here's what the game says are her 'Likes': 1) Loincloths, 2) Switching, and 3) Making them touch. She's so much fun. I also had a realization that because she's both 5'9" and a voluptuous lady that she is 100% Yuuji's type. Hence why he got a little shy. He's gonna be pissed when he realizes Sukuna ditched him.

Chapter 23: November 3rd, 2019 – 3:22PM – Kumakura Office

Notes:

This isn't a full warning but they do talk about suicide a little bit here in the beginning & near the end of Sukuna's visit with Rohan. They're not the nicest on how they phrase any of it, but it's how they talk to each other so I can't make them be any nicer about it. Just so you know.

As I said previously, I was on the fence on whether to include tags for the game characters that show up but as there are only two I decided to include them cause why not. They have their own roles here and it doesn't hurt to have them tagged. New addition to colored text as well: Tsumiki's text is colored marigold.

The unassuming office front hadn’t changed a bit. No use in fixing what isn’t broken. Ume had also done some researching for anything major on the Kumakura’s. There were a few news articles, most of them about members facing jail time for petty crimes, but there was one that stood out. One year ago Haruta Shigemo jumped to his death from the roof of a building. Sukuna asked the Ai to look deeper and apparently Haruta was admitted to an institution after an undisclosed mental break about six years ago. He was let out a year and a half ago.

“Are you deaf or something? Unless you got a warrant, you’re not welcome here cop.” They had some newbie at the front. He couldn’t be more than twenty.

“That’s all I’d need?” Sukuna leaned in. His lips pulling back in a smile that showed too much teeth, “A warrant?”

The young yakuza had to look up to meet the detective’s eye. Didn’t back down for a second. Good. This was no place for cowards. “You heard me, cop.”

“Hmm.” He looked over the yakuza’s shoulder down the hallway with a bored expression, “There something to hide that would require a warrant? Didn’t think I’d need one to ask about real estate.”

The little twitch he caught out of the corner of his eye was all he needed. They should know better than to let a fresh face be alone at the front. Maybe the gang had gone down-hill after all. There was a click as someone slid out from one of the rooms. They caught his eye and gaped at him for a second before they were briskly walking his way. Sukuna settled back on his heel at his full height as the one-eyed yakuza came up and promptly smacked the back of the newbie’s head who threw a pathetic question on the rough hit before Jogo grabbed the back of his neck and had them both bow.

“Please forgive him Ryoumen. He’s new and stupid.”

“He’s a Ryoumen?”

“As I said, he’s stupid.”

Now that negligence made more sense than the overall gang’s decline. Jogo has been around since before the Kumakura’s branch was established from the Ujisaki family. He looked the same as ever. Bald by choice and with only his right eye for sight as the other was gone completely leaving the eye lid permanently closed. Most likely a birth defect as opposed to Sukuna’s own injury to his right eye that happened later in life leaving behind a nasty scar around the area. He hadn’t been able to see very well through it afterwards and had opted to wear an eyepatch over it most times. Worked wonders for intimidation tactics back in the day. It was almost laughable that ABIS had assured him he didn’t need an Ai-Ball to work as a Psyncer.

“Is Rohan here?”

The young blood lifted his head enough to meet his eye, “What’s it to-“ The older yakuza moved his hand from holding the back of his neck to smack him upside the head again. Jogo rose from his bow with an irritated scowl. “Yes. Did you need to see him?”

Sukuna gave a half shrug putting on an air of boredom, “I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

Before the youngest of the three could put his foot in his mouth again, Jogo shoved him back down the hallway and motioned for the detective to follow. “He’s in a meeting. He’d kill me if he didn’t see you.” The two yakuza leading the way down the hall with Sukuna trailing behind.

Two faced? Really?

Hey, I didn’t choose it.

Yet you let them call you that?

It’s not really something you refuse.

…how so?

Well once the family decides on it, it’s not up for debate.

Sukuna could practically feel the weird look that Ume was trying to give him despite being lodged inside his brain. Trying to understand something that was beyond their reach. None of this was ever documented anywhere. Elaborate.

Ryoumen is a shared name. Each family branch has one.

Does it mean anything?

There’s a level of prestige that comes with it. Not just anyone gets the name.

So it’s a gimmick?

Sukuna let out a quick bark of a laugh that startled the so-called newbie to looking over his shoulder and Sukuna flashed a sinister grin his way. The newbie had the sense to promptly turned back around. Maybe the new blood wasn’t a complete lost cause.

If you want to think of it like that, sure.

What would happen if you were in the same room as another Ryoumen? Do you default to your actual names?

Nope. We’d call each other by the family name on the off chance that ever happened.

So you’d be called Kumakura?

Exactly. But that’s long gone now.

At the end of a series of familiar hallways was another set of familiar double doors he hadn’t seen in over a decade. Jogo quickly ducked inside while the newbie attempted to stand diligently outside at attention. It would have looked believable if the kid could learn to relax a little.

Do you miss it? Their tone had a nonchalant air to it, but it didn’t completely cover the apprehension at his supposed answer.

Sukuna hummed in his mind for a moment. If you asked me about fifteen years ago, I would have said yes.

…and now?

No. I don’t miss it at all. 

Despite them not needing to breath or having any lungs, he heard Ume give a relieved sigh letting go of pent-up tension. The yakuza boss’ door opened up again just enough for Jogo to slip through and close it behind him. Jogo gave him a nod, “He’s ready to see you.” The two yakuza went on their way and Sukuna wasted no time going inside.

The interior hadn’t changed much either. The floor and walls were still a dull grey. The large, dark wooden desk at the back of the room might be new. The furniture had been moved around, but Rohan was always a guy that liked to change up small things. ‘Keep things fresh’ as he’d say. There were two spiraling dragon statues on pedestals on either side of the desk more so near the corners of the room so they didn’t hinder any movement in the space. The wall directly behind the desk held a large framed poster of the Kumakura crest in gold on a purple background. And above that was a little Shinto shrine. On either side of the shrine were a row of lanterns with ‘Kumakura’ written on them. There was a black door in the corner too, but Sukuna knew for a fact that this building had one entrance and one exit. On the right side of the room were three sets of couches all facing a low marble coffee table. There was an ash tray in the center of it. Across from each other was the chairman, Rohan, and a chameleon of a politician, Kenjaku Kamo.

“Ah, it’s been a long time, Ryoumen,” Kenjaku remarked as they leaned forward to put out their cigarette. As usual, they were in traditional clothing. Their salt and pepper hair was pulled back in a long pony tail. The politician was pushing sixty but even Sukuna knew they were still an active congressman. Said congressman stood up, “I’ve just finished my business with Rohan, so he’s all yours. I wouldn’t want to get in between your little reunion.”

That was a load of shit. They just didn’t want to have anything on record since he was with the MPD. Speaking of…

“Can you tell me where you were yesterday and the day before?” Sukuna hadn’t moved out of the way of the entrance even as Kenjaku calmly walked his way.

Their smile came naturally as befit their career, “I was working both days and went home after.”

“Can anyone corroborate that?”

“You can ask my body guards. They’ll tell you the same.”

Kenjaku did have body guards with them around the clock, but that wouldn’t help corroborate their story. Body guards are likely to lie in their testimony to keep their client safe. They wouldn’t say anything incriminating about the congressman even if something did happen. Whatever. Sukuna stepped to the side, and Kenjaku let themselves out.

In that time frame Rohan had put out his own cigarette and moved to sit behind his desk. Much like with Kenjaku, there were a few more ages lines on his face. Like everyone and everything else around here, he hadn’t changed much. Still bald and dark bushy mutton chops framed his stern face. Rohan was a bit taller than himself and just as broad shouldered. The man wore a tan brown button up shirt with a purple tie, a white suit jacket with matching white pants, and a black scarf draped over his shoulders down his front. Were it not for the years between when they’d last seen each other, he might have thought this was another one of their regular meetings.

“Why the fuck are you doing business with Jin?” Sukuna didn’t bother for the yakuza to start as he stepped closer to the desk. He wanted answers now.

“He came to us. Don’t get it twisted.”

“And you didn’t think for a moment that would be an issue?”

“Why would there be? He pays good money – on time no less. I’ve no reason to turn him away, civilian.” Rohan’s gaze turned piercing. “Don’t know why you came here to fuss about it now seeing as he’s dead.”

Sukuna’s palms slammed the desk surface as he leaned forward and over Rohan, “Where’d you hear that?”

Rohan didn’t flinch at Sukuna’s fiery intensity. “The news.”

“Got an alibi for yesterday and the day before?”

“We just returned this morning from the annual golf tournament.”

Sukuna leaned back but kept his palms on the desk surface. “Same hotel as usual?”

“Would we go anywhere else?”

Sukuna gave Ume instructions on what hotel’s records to look through before turning back in to respond.

“What kind of work did you do for him?”

“Some extra security. A little damage control here and there. The usual.”

“Any reason why I shouldn’t consider the entirety of the Kumakura’s as suspects? Kaori’s corpse showed up too.” His tone turned scathing, “And I don’t have to tell you she’s been doing deals with the Kumakura’s for years.”

“Please,” Rohan’s own voice swapped from business-like to flippant, “Both of them paid good money. You don’t bite the hand that feeds.”

Oh, that was rich coming from him.

Sukuna. I checked the hotel records and found the Kumakura members were listed as guests. There are also multiple instances of security footage with them on camera. Their checkout time was listed as this morning. I believe the likelihood that they are the culprit is almost zero.

That took the wind out of his sails. Stinging disappointment as he stood up straight. There wasn’t much else they could get from them then. Though he did want to confirm one thing.

“Heard about Haruta.” There was an imperceptible shift in Rohan’s demeanor. Probably no one else would have noticed it.

“What about him?”

“Just curious. Heard he offed himself. Didn’t think a coward like him was capable of that.”

Sukuna.

Trust me. I know what I’m doing.

There was another shift in the yakuza boss’ posture. He’s shoulders dropped the slightest bit. “Neither did I.”

“What happened?”

“How much do you know?”

“I know he was put in an institution a couple year ago and he was let out a year and a half ago.”

Rohan gaze dropped to the desk and for a split second there was loss etched into his features before schooling back into a steel wall. “I should have never let them release him.”

“Was it that bad?”

“He’d changed. He was much more… eager to hurt others.”

“Doesn’t sound different to me.”

Rohan shook his head, “There was something wrong with his head. Even I had trouble stomaching some of the things he did.” 

Now that’s saying something.

I’m assuming Rohan has a strong tolerance for these things if he’s upset by what Haruta did.

Stronger than most yakuza in general. You couldn’t pay me to watch him torture someone.

That bad?

I’ll tell you later.

“If only he hadn’t had to scramble his brain to finally grow a spine.”

Rohan chuckled, “If only.” He met Sukuna’s eyes once more with a resolution burning in them, “Jin only ever did business with me. I made sure of that. Never even got into an argument with him.”

The did assure him a bit. Rohan was a hard ass, but he was fair. At the very least, he was getting what he asked for and no more or less if his deals were only with him. Even if it still irked him that Jin would go to yakuza of all people for help. There wasn’t much left to discuss so Sukuna parted ways. Ume spoke up on his way back to his parked car.

How bad was Rohan’s torture?

You sure you want to know?

I am curious on what would make you of all people squeamish.

His specialty last I recall was peeling his victims' skin from toe to thigh with a potato peeler.

…oh.

I watched him do it once and had to leave near the end.

Too gruesome?

Even I have my limits on how much gore I can watch.

Sukuna unlocked his car and slid into the front seat. A small ringing touchscreen icon appeared in the corner of his eye as he closed the door.

Incoming call. I traced it to the personal cell phone of Tsumiki Fushiguro.

Is she not at Lemniscate right now?

Based on where the call is going from, I believe she is still there.

Yet she used her personal cell instead of the company phone.

Correct. It could be personal preference or something else. Shall I connect it?

Yeah, put it through.

The little phone icon appeared in the corner of his vision as the call line was established. “This is Officer Itadori. Who’s calling?”

“Uh, hi Officer Itadori. This is Tsumiki Fushiguro from Lemniscate.”

“Did you hear something about Jin?”

“…kind of. I’m-“ There was a momentary pause on her end. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this earlier. I really should have.”

Sukuna's head hit the back of the head rest of the driver’s seat. “What is it?”

There was another pause that lasted a little longer. He was just about to ask again before she answered, “I saw Jin last night.”

The detective sat up straight. “When?”

“Um, it was after 6PM I know that. Oh! I took a picture with my friends around that time let me look – one second.” The last bit of dialogue fading a bit as he could only assume she had pulled the phone away from her face to access her photo library. “Okay I took the picture yesterday at-“ Tsumiki’s voice faded at the end again before coming back, “-6:11PM. I saw him a little bit after that so maybe it was 6:20PM?”

“What did you talk about?”

“Oh, we didn’t talk. I only saw him.”

“Did he see you?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Where did you see him?”

“He was- um- leaving Sunfish Pocket.”

“Was he by himself?” There was a long stretch of silence on the other side of the line. “Tsumiki?”

There was a sound of recognition on her end, “Yes. I’m still here.”

“Was Jin by himself?”

“…Officer Itadori, what do you do with people who were the last person to see someone alive?”

She’s trying to protect whomever it was that was with Jin at the time.

Agreed. But it does seem she’s willing to give the info if we play this right. Tread carefully.

Sukuna had play this smart if he wanted her to give up that info. Intimidation was likely to make her clam up and outright honesty might drive her to not want to hand it over. He put on what Yuki liked to call his ‘nice cop’ voice, “In this case, I’d ask them to come down to the station with me so I can officially record their testimony. As they were the last person to see them alive, they might have discussed something that would let us know where else they went that day.”

There was no response on the other end of the line. “…would you consider them a suspect?”

“It depends. Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. But finding out later that they had met with the victim and didn’t tell anyone does make them suspicious. It’s better to come clean sooner so we can clear anything up.” He might have laid it on a little think with that last sentence. He wanted this info.

“Okay.” The silence was there for another half second as she processed his words.

One last push, that’s the sense he was getting from her hesitation. “Do you think there’s a possibility they could have done it?”

“No.” The answer was quick, decisive. A self-assured confidence filled her words, “I know he wouldn’t.”

“Who was Jin with when he left Sunfish Pocket?”

There was only a slight pause from Tsumiki, “It was Megumi. My younger brother.”

“Did you see where they went?”

“They left in Mr. Itadori's car. I assumed he was taking Megumi home. He’s done that before so I didn’t think it was weird.” He couldn’t fault her for that. Barely anyone knew that Kaori and Jin had been married & divorced in the first place so Jin going about his day wouldn’t raise any flags to someone uninvolved in all this. “Megumi texted me saying he’s going to come by and wait for me to get off work, so if you come by you should be able to speak with him.”

Sukuna hummed an acknowledgment. “Thanks. I’ll be right over.” Ume ended the call and the detective finally turned the key in its ignition with their new destination in mind.

Notes:

Btw, the annual golf tournament is held by the Ujisaki Family and attendance of all branches is mandatory. The Kumakura's are a branch of the Ujisaki. Sukuna wouldn't have to ask anything on that b/c he knows that info already. Also, Haruta is Rohan's blood brother here. So no actual familial relation but there was an oath to look after each other.

Here are some of my notes on the Ryoumen stuff. I though it was a cool concept.
o Sukuna joins the Ujisaki family out of Highschool basically. Which would be around 1996 (He’d be 18 years old). Builds a reputation as a “living demon” or any of the other nicknames he has in JJK. He goes by Ryoumen here. Not Sukuna.
o Decided that Ryoumen is kind of a name/title in the Ujisaki family. Kind of a tradition that any subsidiary has their own ‘Ryoumen’ as well. So there’s plenty of Ryoumen’s just in their own subsidiaries of the family. There's only one Ryoumen per family branch.
o The fact that Rohan kicked out a ‘Ryoumen’ is kind of a big deal. Especially since he didn’t get permission from the main branch on it.

Chapter 24: November 3rd, 2019 – 5:59PM – Lemniscate

Inside the pristine florescent entertainment business were two siblings speaking low but harsh to another. Sukuna waited with his arms crossed once he stepped inside. Tsumiki had come around the front desk while speaking with her brother at some point. She caught his eye after a minute of him standing there. Megumi turned to look behind him, caught Sukuna’s eye, and promptly avoided eye contact all together. The kid looked nervous.

Tsumiki laid a hand on her brother’s arm, “Please go with him and be honest. I can pick you up afterwards.”

The teen didn’t say anything for a beat. Then his shoulders dropped as the fight left him. “Okay.” Megumi established eye contact with him and Sukuna tilted his head towards the sliding glass doors. Sukuna gave a nod to Tsumiki as the pair left.

Notes:

I forgot to say this in the last note, but the reason Sukuna doesn't have any facial tattoos is b/c i believe he would have gotten them done once he had established his own subsidiary family when he was in the yakuza. Obviously that didn't happen, hence no facial tattoos.

Chapter 25: November 3rd, 2019 – 8:23PM - Police Headquarters – Interrogation Room

Notes:

How well do you think this is going to go?

Megumi had been quiet the whole ride over. Much like how he was now as he stared down at the lone table between Sukuna and him. The only light shining down from above said table left the rest of the interrogation room washed in partial darkness. Yuki had taken up space near the door as she let Sukuna take the reins, but ready to support in how she did best. There was one camera set up on a tripod facing Megumi while two others were in the top corners on the ceiling. A one-way mirror covered most of one wall and reflected its occupants on its shiny surface.

“Megumi, I’m going to ask you a few questions.” Sukuna broke the silence first. “Answer them honestly. You don’t have to say anything that might incriminate you.”

The teen’s eyebrows knit together momentarily but didn’t look up. “You’re treating me like a criminal…”

“You aren’t in cuffs, so not quite.” That was enough chit chat. Time to cut right to it. “When did you find out Jin was killed?”

“This morning, on the news.”

“And you were with Jin last night? You didn’t think to contact the police about that?”

Megumi’s eyes shifted. “Was I supposed to?”

Sukuna’s gaze turned sharp. The teen still wouldn’t look at him as he answered. “I was meeting my Dad today and it’s a really big hassle to go see him so I didn’t want to waste it. I don’t get to see him a lot.”

It’s a flimsy response, but I don’t believe pressing it will yield anything. We are unlikely to gain any more information from him on why he chose not to report it.

Yeah, agreed. Even if it was a really stupid reason to not report it.

“Tsumiki said she saw Jin and you leaving Sunfish Pocket at around 6:20PM last night. Is that true?”

Megumi nodded, “Yes. Mr. Itadori called me asking me to come to Sunfish Pocket ASAP.”

“What time did he call you?”

“Around 5PM. I think. I got ready and headed over there. I think I got there about an hour later.”

I checked his call history. At 4:58PM yesterday, there is record of a call to Megumi from Jin’s phone.

Why was he calling Megumi of all people? The petty part of him burned at the fact that Jin would do this, but couldn’t be bothered to go to the hospital and check on his own son.

“What were you doing with Jin?”

“He asked me about a job. He rented out Sunfish Pocket for some important party and he wanted me to help with getting some fancy tech set up for it. I turned him down though.”

“Why?”

“I’ve worked on some lighting tech, but I’ve never done anything advanced before. I didn’t want to be the reason it malfunctioned or didn’t work when the party happened.”

“What did you do after you turned him down?”

“I asked him to take me home. I think I got home at around 7PM. I was home the rest of the night.”

“So last night between 7PM to 10PM you were at your home?”

“Yes.”

“Could I ask your mother about your alibi?”

“You can try,” there was a hint of sarcasm in there that dropped just as quickly. “My Mom wasn’t home last night and my sister was staying at a friend’s house. I was the only one home.”

“Where was your mother?”

“I don’t know. She came back this morning.”

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

What was Hitomi doing last night?

Hard to say. She did seem genuinely shocked to hear Jin had passed, and there’s nothing that would link her to the case. Of course she could have been faking her shock, but we can come back to that line of thinking later.

Fair enough. What do you think of his story so far?

I don’t see any immediate contradictions.

But?

His story appears almost too organized. Human memory is ambiguous. His use of exact times leads me to believe we should press further.

Hmm…

Sukuna leaned back in the steel chair cracking his neck a few times. The teen still hadn’t properly looked up at him or anyone else for that matter, but now he did look up at Sukuna, then to Yuki, and back down to the table.

“Am I a suspect?”

“Do you think you are?” Sukuna was never one to place nice when it came to interrogations. Someone else might have tried to assure them that they aren’t a suspect. And as long as Yuki isn’t doing anything about how he’s handling it he was going to keep going.

“W-well I did meet with Mr. Itadori yesterday, but… How do I say this?” There was a slight pause, “It’s impossible that I’m the killer.”

“What makes it impossible?” The kid was either going to say something really stupid or plausible enough to clear him.

“I’m a teenager! Mr. Itadori is a fully-grown man. There’s no way I could have done it.”

Behind Sukuna he heard Yuki hum before saying, “He’s got you there. A boy like him could have stabbed, poisoned, or shot him, but strangling? Jin wouldn’t just lay down and let it happen.”

“No, it’s still possible.” Sukuna answered as if they weren’t talking about Megumi right in front of him. Looks like Yuki was going to help him out with this. “Jin was practically in a coma when he was killed. He wouldn’t have struggled.”

Yuki gave a noise of affirmation as if she was just hearing this information and it wasn’t something she already knew. “So even a teenager could have strangled him.”

That finally got Megumi to start looking up with a hint of worry in his voice, “W-wait a minute, even if it was possible for me to kill him, the rest of it is impossible. I couldn’t have hung up his body.”

Sukuna’s eyes turned scathing, “How do you know that?”

“What do you mean?” The genuine question slipped out from the teen before going back to that slight worry, “It was all over the news.”

“He’s got another point there.” Yuki voice floating over from her position near the door. “Jin weighted about 195 pounds, so even if Megumi used all of his body weight I don’t think he could have hauled him up.”

“True. If he just used his body weight, it’d be difficult to haul him up.” Sukuna gave a flippant gesture as if they weren’t flat out accusing the teenager. “All you have to do is get a little creative and even he could have hung him up.”

Yuki made a thoughtful sound, “How so?”

Megumi had taken to looking back down at the table again. Still nervous as hell. Sukuna made a mental note on it as he continued.

“First, Jin was laid out on the counter. Next, the wire was thrown over the support beam and connected to the hook in his jaw. Then all you need to do is put the beer kegs on the counter, hook the other end of the wires to the kegs,” Sukuna looked straight at Megumi even if he didn’t look back, “and what do you think happens if you kick the kegs off the counter?”

“Ah,” Yuki exclaimed like it was a revelation and not old information, “the kegs weighed 220 pounds all together which would offset Jin’s weight. I suppose it is possible then. There is one more thing.” There was an edge to her voice that told him she was going to nudge him in another direction. “The crime scene indicated that Jin was killed elsewhere and brought to where we found him. If Megumi is the culprit, how did he move the body?”

“H-Hey!” Barely contained alarm in Megumi’s voice.

“I know, I know.” Yuki softened her accusation for a moment. “You’re going to say it’d be impossible for you to move him, right?”

“Unfortunately for him, he could have.” Sukuna answered her without looking away from the troubled teen who glanced his way once more. Their eyes were still locked as Sukuna reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the still ticking wrist watch. The gold of the metal band shimmered under the light on the table where he deposited it. The teen looked down to it. “Do you know what this is?” Sukuna didn’t bother waiting for an answer. “It’s Jin’s favorite watch. It was in an empty oil drum at Sunfish Pocket.”

“Hey Sukuna,” disdain peaked through Yuki’s shift to a neutral tone, “I know you’re on a roll right now, but report these things through protocol next time, got it?”

The detective gestured that he’d heard her, but hadn’t strayed from looking at Megumi who continued to glance between the watch and away from it.

“What’re you saying?” the teen asked quietly.

Sukuna leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “I’m saying it wouldn’t be hard to move a body if it was in an oil drum. All you’d have to do is roll it.”

“I didn’t do it!” Megumi’s body was rigid, “If I was rolling an oil drum down the middle of the street, people would have noticed!”

“You could have put it in a car and driven it,” was Sukuna’s lazy reply to his frantic deflection.

“I don’t have a license!”

“So? That doesn’t mean you can’t drive a car.” There was no other comment from him. The accusations finally settling in to get him worked up and react properly. Sukuna took the lead once again. “You weigh about 132 pounds, don’t you?”

There was a momentary lapse of confusion that crossed the teen’s expression, “Where is this coming from?”

“If the oil drum was used to transport the corpse, then the culprit being around 132 pounds is extremely likely.” Sukuna looked off to the side. “Megumi, on which floor is Sunfish Pocket located?”

“The second floor,” the teen answered quietly.

“That’s right. The elevator records showed the elevator only stopped on the second floor once that night. At 8:55PM. The total cargo weight was 372 pounds. Jin weighs 196, the oil drum is 44, and we have 132 pounds left unaccounted for.”

“W-what’re you trying to imply?”

“I’m just stating a fact. No need to get worked up. There’s a lot of people who weigh 132 pounds.” The detective half-shrugged. “Or someone could have put an extra 132 pounds in the elevator, sent it up, and taken the stairs to throw us off.”

Don’t look at Megumi. He’s acting odd.

Sukuna kept his gaze fixated on the wall. The teen was in his periphery. What did you notice?

He’s been fidgeting a lot. I hacked the surveillance cameras in this room to gain access to their recordings. Look. An image pulled up over his right eye. The room from at a different, higher angle. He could see himself staring off to the side, Yuki leaning against the back wall, and Megumi’s back was angled partially to the camera. The one-way mirror only partially in frame. The teenager was fidgeting slightly. This is live footage.

Is he doing something underneath the table?

It looks like it, but we need to confirm what he’s doing first before confronting him.

Sukuna skimmed over the image and snagged on the camera beside him. Can you access the tripod camera?

Certainly. The high angle image disappeared. In the next second another overlaid his right eye’s vision. A new angle of Megumi staring down at the table- no. In the image he could see their reflections properly in the one-way mirror. Megumi was staring down a little further at his lap where the reflective screen of a smartphone was open.

Are you fucking serious?

Ume had closed the footage the same moment Sukuna grabbed the surprised teen’s arm and wrenched it up causing the phone to clatter out of his hand loudly onto the table. The detective sent Megumi a warning look daring him to try and grab it as Sukuna picked up the phone. There was a chat open.

          You: They’re accusing me of Mr. Itadori's death…

          Nobara: What the fuck? Do they even have any evidence

          You: That’s what I keep saying but they’re not listening

          You: Could you do me a favor and not mention last night? In case they ask you

          You: It’s going to make me look even worse

          Nobara: I guess. It does look suspicious though ngl

          Nobara: But alright you big fuckin nerd, you owe me big time

Yuki had walked over to look over his shoulder. He handed the phone over to her. Megumi hadn’t said a word. Didn’t even have the decency to be a little ashamed. One of Yuki’s hand fell on his shoulder. “Sukuna, why don’t you go check on Suguru? I haven’t heard from him in awhile.” He didn’t need to be told twice. The two swapped places, Yuki taking his seat, while Sukuna let himself out. Megumi would either tell the ABIS leader willingly what he’s hiding or he’d take a look in the teen’s head himself.

Notes:

Hey we get another Somnium! How exciting! It's gonna be something to adapt that's for sure.

Chapter 26: November 3rd, 2019 – rihAI

Notes:

A refresher on how talking goes on inside a Psync: If text is inside {these brackets}, that indicates that only Sukuna and Ume can hear what the other is saying out loud. If text is in "regular quotation marks", then everyone inside and outside observing the Somnium can hear what was said. Anything with green text is Suguru and anything with purple text is Yuki.

Okay, so this is the second Somnium with the Psync Machine! Very exciting stuff, but as this is only the second time we've done this here I'll bring over some of the notes I had in chapter 10 (Yuuji's Somnium) so you can refresh your memory on what a Psync is & what occurs. Feel free to look at the beginning notes of that chapter if you want to read the unabridged version, but most things I copied over to here are unchanged.

The idea is that normally its impossible for the person experiencing a dream to remove themselves of it as dreams are a first person experience. When a Psyncer dives into these dreams (or Somniums) they are experiencing them as an observer. The example the game gives is like if you're watching a play. The 'subject' is the author, director, and actor. The Psyncer is the audience.

Somnium Scans are performed at the start of a psync to scan the dream world (Somnium) which reveal Mental Locks to the Psyncer. These Mental Locks are tied to something specific in the Somnium and it is through the action of the Psyncer that they will unlock. Keep in mind that because this is a dream the solution isn't always the most obvious one.

The only source of light came from the line of windows in the shape of smaller squares across the east wall and part of the north wall. Some of the glass was broken or gone entirely. In the middle of the spacious, factory-esque room was an old CRT TV on top of a set of racks. The device was on, but no sound came from it as pixelated grey popcorned on the screen while a black line traveled from the bottom of the screen upwards and repeating it on loop once it hit the top. The moving parts of the screen slowed down to a crawl as tendrils of light gathered and condensed to produce a humanoid form with ghostly pale skin. Ume gave a precursor observation of the dream.

{What is this place?}

{I don’t know, but it’s connected to Megumi in some way.} Sukuna answered the Ai as his own consciousness, but no body, entered the Somnium to hang over Ume’s shoulder in their general area. Everything was washed in darkness where the light from the windows didn’t reach. The room was visible for the most part even with the poor lighting. {Don’t know why some place this gloomy would be important to him.}

{I suppose we’ll find out as we progress.} White bursts of electrical charges gathered up underneath where the Ai was standing, “Somnium Scan: Activate.” The sparks flew outward reaching every part of the Somnium, catching and categorizing all its little nuisances. The information slipped back to its origin and the location of the Mental Locks appeared in the detective’s mind’s eye. Four of them. The CRT TV, the east side windows, the north west corner of the room, and the south wall with the double doors. Seeing as there was nothing else for them to interact with besides the TV, this dream was likely going to be changing quite a bit.

The Ai’s footsteps barely made a sound as they closed the distance to the silent static playing electronic. Time flowing in motion as the grey scrambled and the black bar went up the screen once more. It slowed down considerably as they came to stop in front of it.

{What should we do?}

It was a good question. Sukuna’s instinct was to turn the dial. The model reminded him of the one they had when he was younger. He could still hear Dad telling him to be delicate with it. …but how frequently would a teenager know that much about older TV’s? They were probably more familiar with modern ones. If anything, they were more likely to know how movies liked to depict the older models.

{Try hitting it.}

{Understood.} Ume pulled back and lashed their semi-transparent palm at the side of the electronic with a dull thud following. The sound of static filled the air as the image on the television displayed what might have been a child’s drawing front and center that didn’t take up the whole screen so the black and white static still showed behind it. The drawing itself had a brown background with tufts of green in the corners to depict grass. There were white parts of the paper peeking in between the colors from where it had not been fully colored in. In the middle of the drawing was a black outlined circle with a smaller one on the right of it and a medium sized one on the left side of it with two beady black eyes and a upside down triangle for a nose. Two long oval shaped parts stuck out of the top of the medium circle. It took him a second to understand that the little black sticks drawn underneath it were the legs and that the animal was supposed to be a bunny. Grey static passed over the screen taking away the bunny drawing. The muffled sound of something splatting against a surface came through the television the same moment the bunny drawing came back up. Splatters of dark red had hit the bottom of the drawing in several places and dried, curling the paper. The color had hit part of the bunny too. Was that supposed to be blood?

Bright color bars ate up his vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. The TV now had those same colored bars on display. The ones that would come on when there were no more programs running back in the day. They were for checking the color settings if he was remembering correctly. The sound of a lock unfastening the first Mental Lock echoed throughout the dream. He took in the changes to the room. “Five minutes, Sukuna.” Mentally filing away the reminder. This was going to take some work if they were already down a minute. Instead of the realistic tone, the room had a light brown papery type texture overlaid on both the room itself and all of the static fixtures. There was no longer darkness, but a sterile light with no source that lit up the room. There was a standing mirror and a row of shelves, with a revolver of all things affixed upright on one of the shelves, over on the west side. On the east side there was a low shelving unit, a taller shelving unit with various bottles on it and another CRT TV on top of it, and a toppled over oil drum all lined up along the wall.

{Is it possible that Megumi drew that picture?}

{Maybe. Someone else could have drawn it and he’s just recalling it.}

The Ai nodded, {Where next?}

Sukuna’s awareness swept over the room once more. The revolver was interesting, and a little too realistic from what he could see of it. But for now, the next lock was on the east side near the windows. {Head over to the other TV.}

Sukuna’s consciousness followed after Ume as they walked over to the shelves. Now that they were closer, he could see there was another child drawing on the TV’s screen. This time it was a frog with a blue sky behind it. There was a small sun drawn in the corner. The shelves underneath it had various bottles with difficult to make out labels. They were all slightly fuzzy. Chemicals of some kind?

{Can you read what it says on these bottles? Pick it up if you have to.}

{Let me try.} Ume brought their face closer to one of bottles squinting their eyes before picking it up. They raised it higher when the glass fell right through their palm and crashed into the floor. {Ah!} The split second was all they had to shield themselves before the bottles on the bottom shelf exploded, then the shelf above, and then above that one in a set of chain reactions. Bright color bars ate up Sukuna’s vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. The TV that previously had the frog drawing on display now had the same-colored bars. {Are you okay?} The sound of the second Metal Lock clicked throughout the Somnium. The tall shelves were empty with no signs of broken glass.

Ume shook out their daze from the explosion. {I’m fine. Let’s continue.} They turned to face the changed Somnium once more. There were three large, empty square cabinets lined up near the south west. There was an operating table in the middle of the room. Chairs and desks populated each corner where there had been nothing before and the north east corner one had a book with the picture of a butterfly on the cover on its surface from what he could see. Another analog TV was along the south wall on top of a set of low shelving. On display was a child’s drawing of a butterfly flying on a blue background. This probably wouldn’t amount to anything, but he wanted to try something.

{Could you go to the TV? I want to try something.}

“You have four minutes, Agent Sukuna.”

The reminder echoed in his mind as Ume compiled with his request. {Could you turn the dial?} Sukuna asked as soon as they were close enough to it.

{Certainly.} The Ai turned the dial on the right side of the display. The screen turned black and nothing else appeared as they turned the dial more only to flip back to the butterfly drawing once more. {Hmm. Nothing happened.}

{Eh, it was worth a shot.} Sukuna was ready to move on. He did consider the operating table, but quickly dismissed it. He didn’t know Megumi that well. Unless the kid had a fascination with medical equipment or medical knowledge in general, having something like an operating table appear in a Somnium usually wasn’t anything good. He didn’t want to deal with some kid’s medical trauma or having to deal with reopening it. He gave the TV one last once over. What the hell. Might as well try it. {Hit it.}

{Like before?}

Sukuna hummed his agreement. Ume struck the side of the television and a distorted high-pitched manic giggle echoed out from it. If he had a body, Sukuna would have been giving the TV the most puzzled look.

{What was that?}

{I don’t know. It sounded like a child.}

Sukuna filed the information away. It was weird, but unhelpful. The operating table was out, which only left the book as the new object in the room. He floated after Ume as they went over to the book per his direction. The book had a realistic butterfly on the cover. It looked like a worn-out reference book of some kind. Given the past two answers to the Mental Locks, violence seemed the most viable answer.

{Rip the book in half.}

{It’s quite a thick book. I’m not sure that’s possible.}

{Don’t know unless you try. This is a dream after all.}

{I will try my best.} Ume picked up the book and opened it to somewhere halfway before grabbing each side at the top and pulling them a part. The book barely resisted as a it split in two with a quick sound of paper tearing. 

“Three minutes.”

The reminder filed away as the TV in the corner flickered then the distorted sound of something tearing filtered through as the butterfly picture appeared again torn in two down the middle. Bright TV color bars ate up his vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. The TV now had the same-colored bars on display. No lock was undone, but the Somnium had changed once more.

There was another CRT TV in the north west corner of the room, a gas canister near the south doors, and a set of two lockers on the north wall. The television had on display another child’s drawing.

{This dream gets stranger and stranger.}

{Agreed.} He landed back on looking at the north wall. {Let’s try opening those lockers.}

Once more, the Ai walked over to the indicated spot. Now that they were closer, Sukuna could see that the drawing on the new TV in the corner was a bird flying through a cloudy blue sky. The first locker door didn’t budge. The second swished open along with a sharp object flinging itself past Ume fast enough to disturb their short hair as it did so and embed itself in the far wall. Ume slowly looked over their shoulder with wide eyes. {That was too close.}

{But why was it booby-trapped?}

Ume looked inside the open locker once more. {I do not see anything else here.} They turned back around with a neutral expression. {Shall I examine the knife?}

{Good idea.}

Ume crossed the room to where the sharp kitchen knife was imbedded in the wall next to the double doors with the gas canister not too far from it. {Can you pull it out?} They reached for the knife handle and it came out easily. Sukuna considered what they should do next with it. With the exception of the first one, all interactions with the TV’s had been indirect to progress further in this Somnium. The gas canister didn’t appear relevant or at least not in any way he could see immediately. The gun and the mirror were still viable, but the knife wouldn’t be here if it was supposed to be used for something. …sometimes he had to make some weird decisions when it came to this part of his job.

{Throw it.}

{Anywhere in particular?}

{No. Toss it.}

Ume indeed tossed the knife over their shoulder and the blade soared, twisting over itself in a perfect arc for the north west TV where it phased through the top of the television instead of landing on top of it. “Two minutes left, Agent Sukuna.” The reminder filed away once more as the TV flickered then the distorted sound of something being stabbed as the bird picture appeared again with a very real looking knife stabbed through the bird and blood stains coating the blade and paper. Bright TV color bars ate up his vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. The TV now had the same colored bars on display. The third Mental Lock unfastening echoed in the room.

{I barely threw it…}

{It is a dream after all.}

Once more the dream had changed. There was another CRT TV on the west side, a torso mannequin near the middle of the room, and an upright partially opened oil drum near the east side. He knew what they were going for first.

{Go check the oil drum. I want to look inside it.}

{Understood.}

Standing next to the oil drum, what he didn’t expect was to look inside and have a grey pixelated censor bar greet them over whatever was inside it. Ume tried to look a little closer, and there were a few more seconds of nothing changing. He was about to suggest they try something else when bright TV color bars ate up his vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. {Ugh.} The oil drum was toppled on its side. The lid on the ground and the inside of it empty. There was a black puddle that gave the effect it had spilled from the drum itself. In that puddle were six pieces of shiny silver.

{Are those bullets?}

Ume crouched down to scoop them up. {It appears so.}

{But why?}

{I don’t know. This is quite a dangerous Somnium for someone so young.} Ume stood up. {In any case, should we use these on the revolver?}

{Might as well.}

The shelving that held the gun was fixed in place. The gun already pointed in one direction and standing upright. Down the barrel it was aimed directly at the new television. Similar to the others, there was a child’s drawing of a cat in the forefront of a crudely drawn background. Sukuna tried piecing together the bits they had seen so far as he listened to the clicks of Ume loading the gun’s chamber. This whole dream had been more violent than he expected. Against animals no less. Though it was hard to say if they were supposed to be actual animals or representation of something else entirely. The censored oil barrel didn’t do Megumi any favors, but it also didn’t give them anything conclusive. Ume pulled the trigger.

The bullet flew right inside the TV to black static covering the screen. Another splat sounded from the device as the cat drawing appeared with a perfectly sized bullet hole on the cat drawings forehead with dark red seeping around it. Bright TV color bars ate up his vision accompanying a loud monotonous sound before pulling back to the room. The TV that now had the same colored bars on display as the fourth Mental Lock unlocked. The image on this last TV disappeared and something else appeared on it. A body- no two of them. The angle of the shot was horizontal. A blue, nondescript figure and another more defined female figure underneath them as the shot traveled upwards. The bottom figure was static. Unmoving. Along with the sound of- kissing? Sukuna mentally steeled himself for whatever hormonal fantasy the teen had conjured up. It was a dream after all.

“You have one minute left!”

The reminder barely scratched through the surface of his mind. The shot had stopped once both figures’ faces were in view. The blue figure didn’t have any definition. That wasn’t a surprise. What was completely throwing him off and spiraling was the fact that the face of the figure underneath the non-descript blue one, that it was plainly kissing, was one he’d seen earlier today. The long salt and peppered hair and age lines of one, Kenjaku Kamo. It felt almost cosmically comedic.

{Sukuna. We should go. We can reflect on this outside the Somnium.}

{Right. We’re leaving.}

Sukuna dragged their collective consciousness out of the remnants of the dream.

Notes:

If you're wondering what the color bars look like, search up "crt tv color bars" and it should come up. They're a little hard to explain if you've never actually seen them.

Chapter 27: November 3rd, 2019 – 9:06PM - Police Headquarters

Notes:

Let it be known that because of this chapter my search history now contains the question: ‘what’s the gender neutral term for congressman.’

Another addition to the colored text: Nobara’s text is colored orange.

The Psync Machine hummed on standby. It’s only occupant the sleeping form of one Megumi Fushiguro still seated in the reclined seat of the ‘subject’ chair. The psyncer chair on the opposite side of the machine was empty. Up above in the control room, the detective that had been down there moments before sat at one of the rolling chairs near the counter desk space that lined up against the whole floor length window. Across from him was the ABIS leader, in her own rolling chair. Both had been quiet since he’d come back up from the finished psync as they were both deep in thought. Even Suguru, who was occasionally checking back on the monitors, was standing and staring down into the Psync Room lost in his own thoughts.

“So,” Yuki breaking the semi-silence looking Sukuna in the eye, “who do you think the figure was?”

“I assumed it was Megumi.” Sukuna looked down at the mentioned teen through the window for just a second, “Since we saw it in the third person, it’d make the most sense.”

Yuki nodded in agreement while her mental gears turned. “What’re the chances that Megumi has met representative Kenjaku Kamo before?”

Sukuna half shrugged, “His father was a Zen’in, but he never did any political work.” The Zen’in’s and Kamo’s had been involved with politics for generations. It wasn’t unheard of to hear they were working on projects together. Not to mention that Kenjaku wasn’t one to mingle with those who couldn’t serve a purpose to them in some way. “Pretty sure he was disowned or something like that. There’d be no reason to talk to some random kid.”

“He could have seen Kenjaku on social media.” Both of them looked over to Suguru who kept staring down into the observation room, “They are a celebrity of sorts.”

That just made the situation more complicated. This was the part of psynching that wasn’t always helpful. They could look inside anyone’s mind at any time, but that didn’t mean the results were always useful or explainable. Factor in that dreams can be based both on real memories and things outside actual experiences like movies or television, and you get a Somnium that they have to pick a part to understand it. …And sometimes a Somnium isn’t that useful. Just because it happened in a dream doesn’t mean it happened in the real world.

“Maybe he thinks they’re hot?” Yuki’s question was nonchalant. “Or maybe he actually kissed them in real life.”

An overwhelming calmness overtook him that he could only attribute to feeling one other time in his life at that potential revelation. The calm of a storm that was going to unleash hell if given the opportunity. His words were sharp, cold, “They better pray it’s the former.”

Yuki took it in stride as she leaned back, “We’ve got nothing concrete then. We’d be better off asking if he knows them or not.”

“As if he’d answer honestly.”

None of them said anything. Still caught in their own thoughts. The potential meaning of the Somnium. Potential real-life connections. Suguru spoke up after a time.

“He’s waking up.”

Sukuna stood. “I’ll deal with it.” No one stopped him as he went past the mechanical sliding door off to the side of the control room and descended the stairs. Another set of mechanical doors slid open at the bottom to reveal the cable littered room and its awakened occupant sitting up. The teen rubbed the back of his heel against his eye not giving any indication he heard Sukuna approaching until he was right in front of him. “How’re you feeling?”

“Fine…” Megumi meet his gaze with a twinge of unease, “Why? Should I be worried?”

Sukuna swept past his question to give his own. “Do you know a politician named Kenjaku Kamo?”

There was a crease in the teen’s brow, “No? I mean I know their name and I’ve seen their face, but I don’t know them personally or anything.”

It was worth a shot. Whether or not he was telling the truth was anyone’s guess. Sukuna would have to believe it for now unless something came along to contradict it. No use pushing on it either if he was going to secretive about it. Psyncing again so soon wouldn’t help either. But he did have one other option that he knew he could push on.

“What was that NILE message with Nobara about?” The teen deemed the shiny floors more interesting to look at as Sukuna continued. “You asked her to ‘not mention last night.’ What was it?”

The hum of the room filled the hole in their conversation. Megumi still wouldn’t look him in the eye. Eventually he responded with, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know. You expect me to believe that?”

The teen continued his silence.

Ume, did Nobara get her phone repaired or did she get a new one?

Nobara purchased a new phone in Akihabara yesterday. It’s using the same number as her last one.

Call it.

The Ai quickly established the connection through his phone. The ringing touch screen in the corner of his left eye only lasted one ring before it was picked up.

“What?” The vexed tone of hers was not appreciated.

“This is Officer Sukuna Itadori. We talked yesterday. Are you at home?”

“Why the hell would I answer that?!”

“Because you have information that Megumi isn’t willing to give.” There was a half a second of silence. He tacked on, “Or do I need to talk with your grandmother?”

“Sheesh! I’m at home! Happy? Leave her out of this.”

“Stay there. I’m coming over.”

“Is Megumi still at the police station?”

“That doesn’t concern you.”

“If he’s still being held there, I’m not talking. Bring him with you and I’ll talk.”

“You think you get to call the shots here, kid?”

“He’s not a suspect, is he? So you guys can’t hold him there unless he is.”

“…”

“We have a deal? Bring him with you and I’ll talk.” She had the audacity to hang up on him. These damn kids.

What’re you going to do?

They don’t have anything to use off Megumi’s Somnium. They know he was the last person to be spotted with Jin, but there’s nothing to immediately contradict his testimony. Megumi doesn’t want anyone knowing about something that happened last night that Nobara saw. She could be an accomplice. She could just be covering for him. Again, there’s nothing conclusive that they can work with lead wise except this.

I don’t have a choice here, do I?

Notes:

From Megumi’s perspective at the end, it looked like Sukuna was just talking to himself.

Also here's some dialogue from the game itself that was used during the in-game scene in question.
'Criminal Procedure Law #198: “Persons may refuse to heed a summons or leave the supervision of the police at any time unless they are arrested or detained.” According to Article 223, this applies to all persons of interest.'

Chapter 28: November 3rd, 2019 – 9:21PM – Sukuna Residence

Notes:

What’s that? Is that a rare Yuuji perspective??

The landline’s beeping on the incoming call echoed throughout the home. From one of the bedrooms emerged the only one home as he barreled for the source and flipping the light switch once he made it to the kitchen. Yuuji stopped short of picking up the phone to register the familiar caller ID on the small screen. If they were calling then that usually meant one thing. He picked up the phone in-between its next ring.

“Hello?”

“Hello Yuuji. This is Ume.” They always sounded so formal.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I wanted to let you know that Sukuna likely isn’t going to make it home tonight and if he does, it’s going to be very late.” There it is.

“Oh,” the phone’s plastic strained slightly from where he was clutching it tightly, “okay.” Resentment a bitter aftertaste on his tongue.

“I’ll do my best to get him home, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

Yuuji forced himself to loosen his grip. Bits of anger left behind despite trying to shake it off. “It’s okay. I know you guys are working on catching who did it.” Why did Sukuna have to leave him alone now? It was hard enough seeing all the pictures of Dad in the hallway. Let alone going near the living room. He’d been avoiding even glancing in its direction since that police officer had dropped him off hours earlier. He’d sequestered himself in his bedroom as a result.

“Yuuji,” the police officer’s voice startled him. Had he been quiet too long? He was so out of it. “How are you feeling?”

Now that threw him off even more. “I’m fine.” Ume didn’t really ask those kinds of questions. They’d update him on what was happening that concerned him and that was the extent of their exchanges. Though the lingering silence he was very much aware of now did make him feel an itch of awkwardness. “…You know, it’s okay if you’re not. The past few days have been quite upsetting. For you especially.”

“I-“ Yuuji stopped himself. It was uncharacteristically nice of them. And if he was really honest, it was comforting that someone else was thinking about him. Ume probably knew about the whole mess with their family. He’d be more surprised if they didn’t. “I’m fine, really. Thanks for asking though.”

“Of course. That was all I had to say. Have a-”

“Wait! Can-“ Yuuji stopped himself again. He had to be quick on this, but that burning betrayal didn’t allow him anything sentimental. His words were searing as they left. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“I will do my best. No promises.”

Yuuji couldn’t help the small laugh at Ume's flat and somehow simultaneously passionate tone. “I guess that’s all I can ask for. Thanks Ume.”

“Anytime. Try to get some sleep if you can. Have a good night.”

“I will. Have a good night.”

The phone was silent nestled back on the receiver. The house couldn’t feel any emptier. The lights from the kitchen were pouring over into the darkness of the living room. On the walls he could see the outlines of picture frames and none of the photos in them. Except for one that was just near enough on the edge of the wall that the light dimly lit. It was Sukuna and Dad sitting at a table in their old house. There was a cake in-between them that had clearly been messed with if the bits of cake smeared on each other’s face and each still had on one of their hands wasn’t evidence enough. They were both smiling at the camera. Dad wasn’t wearing his glasses. That was their 30^th birthday? Maybe. Yuuji knew he was little at the time. He didn’t realize when he had decided to move and stand right in front of it. The picture kept staring back at him. Dad looked so young. Less stressed.

Yuuji kept staring at the picture, but no matter how much he stared nothing changed. He didn’t feel anything. Well, that’s not true, he did feel.. upset. But it felt shallow and far away. Normal people would cry over losing their parent, wouldn’t they? Some son he is. The rest of the pictures on the wall had about the same effect once he flicked on the living room lights. Same thing with the hallway.

Yuuji flicked off the lights in the kitchen and the living room. The room quiet once more as the teen slipped down the hallway. A few minutes later he emerged once more with a few movie cases in hand, leaving the hall light on and the living room in mostly darkness. The DVD player making mechanical noises as he decided on which of the two he would watch for whatever time it was now that he had watched it again and depositing the disc into the player. Yuuji settled onto the couch pulling the old blanket over the back to wrap himself up in it. Sleep was not near. The TV screen lit up the darkened room. At least like this he could have something with no surprises. He didn’t want anymore of those.

Notes:

Fun fact: it's actually their 29th birthday in that picture. Yuuji was four at the time so I don't blame him for getting it wrong.

I thought it would be good to 1) take a little breather from all the mystery and 2) see how Yuuji’s been doing. He’s still gonna kick Sukuna’s ass when he sees him.

Chapter 29: November 3rd, 2019 – 10:06PM – Kugisaki Diner

The wooden track of the diner’s old partition door rattled as it slid open. Sukuna ducked inside pulling the black-haired teen along with him. The detective kept a firm grip on the kid’s arm. The kid hadn’t said anything or even glanced in his direction since they had left which was fine by him. Any kind of small talk would have pissed him off more. There were no customers. Only Nobara openly glaring at him from where she had stepped through the short swinging saloon doors from the back into the seating area.

Sukuna met her glare with his own, “Talk.”

“Huh?” her eyes narrowed, “About what?”

“Don’t play dumb.” His eyes mirroring hers. “You texted Megumi saying you ‘wouldn’t mention last night.’ What were you referring to?”

Her expression turned bored as she scratched at her ear looking off to the side, “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” She checked her nails. “You probably misread it.”

“You said ‘it made him look suspicious.’ You’re going to deny that?”

“Ah right, we took a flight to America and got back an hour ago. There you go. You can leave.”

“Lying to my face isn’t going to do you any favors. Tell me what it was and I’ll gladly leave.”

“And I already gave you an answer. Now get lost.” A sharpness flashed in her eyes, “And leave Megumi.”

Oh, she wants to play that game? That’s rich. “You have seconds to start talking on what you two are hiding,” the mild look of uncertainty and unnerved that crossed the teen’s face had him twisting his lips into a cruel grin, “Or I can drag you both back to the station where you can go on record saying nothing happened. Your choice.”

“You can’t,” said a reserved voice beside him. Sukuna was going to pop a blood vessel from the audacity of these kids. He slowly turned his gaze to the teen who’d been clammed up the whole way over and was now deciding to speak up. He was meeting Sukuna’s stare with his own. “Are you going to arrest us?”

“You think I won’t?”

“For what? For an assumption? You can’t unless you have grounds to do so.” There was a sharpness to Megumi that wasn’t there before. “Do you have any evidence to warrant an arrest?”

“Yeah, where’s your evidence?” Nobara added though Sukuna hadn’t turned his attention away from the dark-haired teen.

This is going nowhere.

I’m aware. That was his answer to Ume, but saying it, even in his head, dampened his growing frustration. Enough to think a bit more clearly. It was true that the two teenagers didn’t have to go down to the station unless he made an arrest or there was substantial reason to detain them. Sukuna could possibly get away with detaining Megumi, but at present his testimony didn’t have any glaring contradictions. There was no reason to keep him in police custody if he wanted to leave. And the testimony he really needed was whatever Nobara had seen yesterday. He couldn’t force her to go if she didn’t want to.

Not that Sukuna’s ever been a saint when it came to obeying the law, but there were times to push and other times to follow along to avoid the headache. So, unfortunately for him, they were right. Since when have kids these days become so knowledgeable about the law? Why couldn’t they be stupid when it was convenient for him?

Sukuna leaned forward until he was just barely an uncomfortable distance from the other’s face. There was no room for arguing, “If another dead body shows up and you just happen to have no alibi or no one knows where you were,” Sukuna let the unspoken part of his statement sink in. Megumi hadn’t looked away once. A flicker of defiance in his eyes. He was so tired of these kids thinking they could treat this lightly, so he didn’t hold back the thinly veiled wrath in his voice. “Don’t force my hand.” Sukuna let go of the teen reached behind him and pushed him towards Nobara in one motion. He pointed to the teen who’d nearly face planted from the rough shove as Megumi glanced over his shoulder with that smidge of defiance. “Call your sister and tell her you’re here.” He pointed to Nobara who stiffened, “Keep an eye on him and stay out of trouble.” He didn’t give them time to answer before he was stepping out the entrance and the door rattled shut behind him.

Chapter 30: November 3rd, 2019 – 11:09PM - Golden Yokocho

Marble was about as busy as it gets with how small it is. There were a few patrons at the red couches near the door and only one up at the counter. Barely anyone paid any mind to the detective walking in to slump into the stool at the back wall. One elbow propped up on the counter to cradle his head. After a moment of letting him settle in did Mama slide her way over in front of Sukuna. The hostess looked him up and down.

“Having some fun tonight?”

“You wish.”

She chuckled, “Are you finally offering, Sukuna?”

“No,” the word curling his mouth into a tired half grin.

“Damn,” she fake sniffled, “Stringing an innocent girl’s heart along is cruel.”

“I don’t know about innocent.”

She winked at him. “One day, Sukuna. One day.” The dried bonito fish and the cloth in one hand came out of nowhere like usually for her to polish. “Any luck with the case?”

Sukuna held back his sigh. “No.”

“I haven’t heard anything either. But I’ll let you know if there’s anything substantial that I come across.” She appraised her work before polishing another spot on it. “And Yuuji?”

Sukuna rubbed at his eye. “What about the brat?”

“You can’t call him that in front of me anymore now that I’ve met him. He’s a sweet boy.”

“I can call him whatever I damn please.”

“Would it be so hard to call him your nephew?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get used to being nicer to him. Since you’re his legal guardian now.”

She might as well as hit him with a truck. He had completely forgotten about that. The hand cradling his head came forward over his face. Another mess that Jin left behind for him to deal with. There was all that paper work he would have to go through. It shouldn’t be too difficult given they are direct family. …just one more thing he had to deal with. It’s not like it was anything too different when it came to his nephew in the first place. It would just be official now. Sukuna pulled his hand away from his face to look at the patient hostess.

“Did he go quietly?” he sounded about as exhausted as he felt.  

“He did. You haven’t him seen him since?”

“I’ve been a little busy, so no.”

Mama shook her head. “He’s unbelievably cross with you, that’s for certain.” Her light smugness swapped for serious, sincere, “But you should have seen him when he realized you left him here. He was absolutely crushed. You owe that boy an apology.” The last sentence she delivered as a statement. Not a suggestion. “Now, I know you didn’t come here for a drink and I don’t have any new info for you. But if you want to rest a bit I suppose I can make an exception. You Itadori’s have been good to me.”

“I don’t need a lecture on how to take care of him.” Sukuna slowly stood. “But I will take that second offer.”

“I’ll take good take care of you~”

“Make sure no one comes near me,” Sukuna laid down on the couch behind him. The one up against the back wall. The other patrons were still minding their own business. Part of why he liked the place so much. Sukuna positioned his arms strategically over his chest so on the off chance if someone decided to pilfer his pockets or try to grab his revolver, they would risk waking him up. “If I’m not up in a few hours, wake me up. There’s someplace I need to go.”

Mama hummed her acknowledgement. “Sweet dreams~”

Chapter 31: November 4th, 2019 – 1:13AM - Golden Yokocho

True to form, Sukuna blinked awake on the same couch he’d fell asleep on in the bar. He sat up checking his belongings simultaneously. Nothing was out of place. He rubbed at his eyes to get the last bits of sleep out of them. The group at the other set of couches was gone. That same person was still seated at the bar along with one new person. He caught Mama observing him.

“Morning sleeping beauty~ Sleep well?”

No. He needed his actual bed. “I slept enough. It’s better than nothing.”

What time is it?

It is 1:13AM. You slept for about two hours.

Anything new?

I’m currently checking, but so far it doesn’t look like there’s any updates. From the news or from headquarters. 

Sukuna sighed. Taking a second to get his bearings. He pulled out his wallet, grabbed a couple banknotes, and once he was standing, placed them on the bar counter. He made for the exit as Mama wished him well.

Notes:

A bit on the shorter side for these past few chapters, but the next one I feel like could end up being much longer than expected. Guess we'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll be wrong.

Chapter 32: November 4th, 2019 – 1:57AM – Ikume Shrine

Notes:

I don't know why but I feel like any version of Sukuna is respectful when it comes to visiting shrines. It's purely off of vibes I get. Plus the idea that people who assume he'd be a brute about it but he's the most respectful visitor there is a good contrast.

Located in the Minato district was a local Shinto shrine. It’s official name was Ikume Iribiko Isachi no Mikoto, but most people who knew of it called it Ikume Shrine. The shrine was known for housing The Fruit of Immortality, or so they say. You would think it would have more patrons for having a legend like that surrounding it, but no. It was taken care of by locals but there was by no means anything fancy or extraordinary about it. Local trees lined the old carved stone walkway up to the torii gate and surrounded the low dark wooded fence surrounding the court yard of the shrine. There were only a few trees on the inside of the fencing. There were winter iris’ scattered everywhere on the ground of the courtyard. They only bloomed in winter, as their namesake implied. They were resilient flowers. Sukuna couldn’t recall a time in winter where he hadn’t seen a least a few blooming here. Unlit stone lanterns lined the way up the rest of the path up to the shrine itself and two guardian dog statues, one on either side, ended the pathway at the shrine.

Sukuna had stumbled upon the shrine once in his teenage years. The old priest in charge of the shrine at the time had taken one look at his clearly aggravated state and put him to work helping with outdoor chores. He had hated every second of it, but the priest insisted his old back wouldn’t let him get these things done and he was a strong young man he should be able to do it faster than him. Even if the genuine gratitude from the priest had balmed some of his sour mood. He had left a lot less angry which annoyed him, and he’d promptly forgotten about the shrine.

Cut to years later and he’d found himself back at the shrine by accident once more. This time without the piss poor attitude following him. Instead, he had regular problems to worry about like his Dad’s health and the stupid newbies that had joined the Kumakura’s. It was only once he was standing in the courtyard of the shrine did he recall all those chores he had been roped into on his first visit. The new priest there, Hayato, informed him the old priest had passed a few years ago. And with the new priest quickly turning away to go about his business, there was no one to coerce Sukuna into any chores.

…but for some reason, as he had been standing looking at the old shrine, he had wanted to help. It took some convincing, but Hayato relented that day and in the years after, on the few times Sukuna would offer, he would relent again when he would visit.

As with the many times he’d visited before, Sukuna bowed once he came to the torii gate, went to the small chozuya off the side of the main path – washed his face and hands, and walked down the rest of the main path to the solemn shrine. The few coins he had clattered into the offering box. The weathered red and white rope jingled the old bell across the empty night of the courtyard. Sukuna clapped twice before closing his eyes and bowing his head. The peace of night time settling once more after that brief disruption. It was only disrupted slightly once more as the detective walked over and sat down on the solid, raised stone platform that housed the wooden home of the shrine itself. He breathed in the brisk night time air. There were a few winter iris’ growing near the fence close by. The white and blue petals standing out against the dull colors around it.

Ume. There was a slight stirring in his mind that wasn’t him. We’re going over everything from the beginning of the case.

Shall I start with a brief summary and we can delve deeper?

Sounds good to me. Start when you’re ready. There was barely a pause before the Ai began their recap.

Kaori Nadami, female - 40 years old, was killed on November 1^st at around 5:00PM. Her cause of death was blood loss from multiple puncture wounds to the front of the torso. The murder weapon was an ice pick. She was not killed at the location she was found at in Bloom Park and instead was transported there after she was already deceased. Her right eye was removed while she was still alive.

And there were no signs of a struggle on her body so Kaori didn’t fight off the killer or she wasn’t able to.

Correct. The evidence we had gathered strongly pointed to Jin being the culprit. Unfortunately, the second victim, Jin Itadori, male - 41 years old, was killed on November 2^nd at around 8:00PM. His cause of death was asphyxiation. Based on the abrasion marks left on his neck, the weapon used was a twisted piece of cloth. Like Kaori, he was not killed at the location where his body was discovered. He was transported to Sunfish Pocket from somewhere else. Also, like Kaori, his right eye was removed while he was still alive.

And just like Kaori, there were no signs of a struggle. We also know based on his autopsy that there was a high concentration of a sedative in his body before he died. He wasn’t able to fight back even if he wanted to. Could it be possible that Kaori had been injected with something similar?

It’s certainly possible. It would explain why Kaori had no other wounds on her body despite the multiple stabbings.

Suspect wise, our strongest contender for the culprit when it was just Kaori had been Jin.

But due to his own death, that changes certain factors. The likelihood that the person who killed Kaori is the same person who killed Jin is very high.

None of the evidence we gathered pointed to someone else using Jin’s car or his phone. It’s possible, but given the phrasing in that NILE message to Yuuji and his weird behavior on the day he was killed, I’m more inclined to believe he was involved in some way.

Agreed. I believe we can safely assume Jin was an accomplice.

But why? That was the point he couldn’t address at any other time but now. Didn’t even realize that’s why it felt off that Jin could have been involved in any way. What did he gain from being involved in any of this in the first place? What was his motive? If he wasn’t the person who killed Kaori, then why work with the person who did?

Perhaps he had a grudge against her?

He’s eight years too late for that. Jin’s not the vindictive type. If anything, he was too forgiving.

…he could have been blackmailed.

With what?

His connection to the Kumakura’s or something we’re unaware of.

Part of him really, really, wanted to refute the second part. The more sensible side of him pointed out that Sukuna hadn’t known Jin was involved with the Kumakura’s until very recently and he likely would have never known about it otherwise. The bitter truth was that maybe he didn’t know his brother as well as he thought he did.

It’s as good a theory as any.

Then let me propose another question: Who do you believe killed Jin?

Well given everything so far, the only one I can say is suspicious is Megumi Fushiguro. He was the last person seen with Jin before he died. There’s also the fact that Nobara saw something pertaining to Megumi that same night that would have ‘made him look more suspicious’ if she talked about it. His story doesn’t have any holes in it, but there’s no one that can corroborate it either.

Do you think Megumi killed Kaori?

That gave him pause. Mulling it over in his mind seeing if the pieces fit. I don’t know. We don’t know what he was doing on the day and time that she was killed. All I know for sure is that the person who killed Kaori likely also killed Jin, and that Jin had been helping the culprit in some way for some reason. And they would never know what that reason was. Just another secret his brother kept from him.

What would Megumi’s motive be to kill both of them?

Hell if I know, but him being secretive about everything isn’t making him look any less shady.

Hmm. Then why would the culprit kill Jin?

Maybe he outlived his usefulness. That’s the only reason I can think of. Sukuna rubbed at his bleary eyes. He still needed to drive. Can’t be getting sleepy on the road no matter how bone tired he is. The only way Megumi could get off the hook is if a dead body shows up that was killed in the time he was in police custody. But as of right now, he was their biggest suspect and they didn’t have any other leads.

Sukuna.

“Yeah?”

We should go home. You need to rest.

Sukuna closed his eyes for a moment before opening them. “Yeah, you’re right.” They weren’t going to solve this now, but taking the time to consider everything did help organize his thoughts. Passing out in his bed sounded like as good a plan as any right now. They’d figure out what to do next afterwards. His footsteps were the only sound accompanying him as he walked down the well-worn path. Once he made it to the torii, he bowed once more to the shrine before continuing his way with the forest on either side of him back to where he’d parked his car.

Notes:

Honestly, I could have put more details on the shrine itself, but I think we're fine with what I've given on it.

Chapter 33: November 4th, 2019 – 2:50AM – Outside Ikume Shrine

The walk back along the short forest path was uneventful. He was all on his lonesome. No one would willingly be up and out at this hour. It also made parking a lot easier. Sukuna slid into the driver seat reaching for the door handle to pull it closed when a small spike of acute awareness from Ume pierced his mind.

Sukuna, look. The right side of his vision pulled up an image- no, it was a video-that turned his blood ice cold. This is a livestream. The stressed words breaching through his mind further as he really took in what he was looking at. The dull grey of a work bench with an industrial type of machine attached to it on the other side with the circular buzz saw, motionless, above it. On that work bench, laid a person their hands tied with rope to the leg of the workbench below and likely their feet were tied up the same from where the camera cut off. It wasn’t tight by any means from the looks of it, it looked like it was mostly for show because there was a dark, dried trail of blood from their right eye. Which meant that if this was the same pattern that it wouldn’t matter if he was tied up, Megumi wouldn’t be able to fight back while he was murdered anyway. The bound teen’s left eye was closed and his chest was rising ever so. He was breathing, but for how long?

Where? There was nothing descript about the parts of the video feed that weren’t taken up by the massive industrial machine and the would be victim below it. He could see a grey back wall with black across it. Maybe support beams? A warehouse possibly? Ume.

Found it. The Ai swapped the feed for a birds eye view map. A small static red dot and another flashing near the water. Itadori Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse. Koto District.

Why there? Sukuna shook the thought out. He yanked the car door shut. Keep an eye on the live stream. The engine purred to life.

Will do. The map swapped out for the same distressing live stream and minimized to the corner of his eye. Focus on the road. I’ve contacted dispatch. You’re closer than they are. That wasn’t the least bit reassuring. It’d take him at least 30 minutes to get there. Tires squealed against pavement as he peeled out onto the road.

Notes:

Hey, you know what’s another way for Megumi to get off the suspect list?

Chapter 34: November 4th, 2019 – 3:01AM – Highway

The roads all blurred together. Any occasional honking from people he cut off was plain background noise. Speed limits were a suggestion that he dutifully ignored. Adrenaline fueling his focus. He couldn’t tell how much time had pass. All he could think of was getting there now. They were passing over a long bridge when Ume spoke up.

Someone else is on screen. Sukuna refused to look at the small screen. His grip on the wheel turned to iron as he heard the sound of something being pulled with a click. There was bitter bile at the back of his throat at the sound of machinery starting up along with the start-up whirring of a saw. …it’s descending. The other person has left.

They didn’t need to say what. Those types of machines were made for big jobs. They were slow, but not slow enough. This was just some sick anticipation for the killer. It didn’t matter that Sukuna knew he was close to getting there. Megumi needed help now. …And all he could do was drive like a living demon. But it wouldn’t be enough. The whirring of the saw buzzing in his head from the live stream. It would meet flesh eventually. These damn kids. Why couldn’t Megumi talk about what happened? What was so bad that he didn’t want Sukuna to know about it? Did the culprit threaten him to not say anything? The teen wouldn’t be able to speak on it. He’d be taking stock of how big of a body bag they would need when he arrived. I'm sorry Megumi. There was a grim acceptance settling in with his adrenaline.

“Megumi!”

The semi-familiar voice cutting through said acceptance. Eyes on the road.

What’s happening? Right as he asked he somehow heard an out of place click over the whirling saw. Nobara is on screen. The ever-piercing sound of the saw was starting to quiet down. She’s turned off the saw.

“You want some, motherfucker? I’ll take you the fuck out!”

She’s off-screen now.

The audio coming through the live stream was muffled but clearly a fight had broken out off-screen. No clue who was winning or what was happening. It was not doing his blood pressure any favors. He was going to be extremely pissed if he came across two teen corpses. There was a skip in the audio and then it cut out entirely.

Ah, they knocked the camera over. I believe it’s broken as the live stream is down too.

Again, no favors being done for his blood pressure. He was going to break the steering wheel one day. He just needed these kids to hold on a little longer.

Notes:

Ume: Oh, Nobara’s there now
Sukuna, stressed out even more: Fuck, Nobara’s there now

Chapter 35: November 4th, 2019 – 3:17AM – Harbor Warehouse District

Warehouses lined up all along this district by the water. All in use by different companies. The specific one Sukuna’s car came squealing to a halt in front of was at the end of the only dock. The engine died as he hastily pulled his keys out, shoved them in his pocket, and had his revolver out as he closed the short distance between him and the warehouse door. Noting that there were two other cars parked out front as he shoved the warehouse door open.

Immediately his breath was visible. Scanning through the place quickly for any unknown persons finding nothing. There was Megumi, same position, on the table. On the ground there was- oh god. Sukuna crossed over to where Nobara was in the fetal position with a puddle of blood cooling under her. He almost sighed in relief when she cracked open her eyes and looked up at him. Her hands were pressed on her stomach. They were shivering.

“What happened?” being as direct as he could for the teen.

“Got stabbed,” she actually sounded like a kid when she didn’t have an ego fueling her mouth. She tried to move her head to look behind her but didn’t get far. Red, both dried and wet, clump to her cheek sticking part of her hair to it as well. “They went out there.”

At the back was a wide open door. Sukuna eyes went back to the teen as she laid back in her prior position. “Dispatch is almost here. Keep putting pressure on it.” She minutely nodded as he stood up.

He checked on Megumi. There was a pulse. Lower than what would be ideal, but he had one and he was breathing. They can’t do much about the missing eye. The back door led to another door at the end that he kicked open to find the ocean just beyond it. This was a back alley for the warehouses that faced the ocean side. There was no one else out here at this hour and if there had been they would be stupid to stick around.

How far is dispatch?

About 5 minutes away.

That made his decision for him to turn around and head back inside to the frigid temperatures of the cold storage. Back inside he took stock that there were some shelves around, a forklift, some remnants of what was a laptop and a toppled camera as he was loosening up the rope on Megumi’s arms and legs. The boy hadn’t moved or flinch once. Finally, he stepped back over to Nobara who hadn’t moved either for different reasons. The size of the puddle was concerning. With how cold the place was, it should have staunched the bleeding. She might not be putting enough pressure on the wound. Probably in shock.

The floor of the warehouse was bitingly cold even through his trousers where he knelt beside her. He put his hands on top of Nobara’s and pressed down hard to compensate for her own waning strength. Her back pressing against his thigh so the pressure was even where he pressed on her stomach. The teenager immediately let him know she was in pain with a sharp yell. “Yuuji’s right – you’re an asshole!” There was a bit a fire in her voice again. That’s a good sign even if her complexion was too pale for any means of heathy.

The insult rolled right off of him. “Come on, you can do better than that.”

“Inconsiderate, Condescending, fuckin’ piece of-“

Sukuna tuned her out as she quietly kept insulting him. It was hard to tell how big the stab wound was, but with how much blood she’s lost he wouldn’t have been surprised if it had gone all the way through to her back too. Her coat was a dark blue so he couldn’t tell if it had and even then, the blood would blend in with the material until there was better lighting. It was a miracle she was still awake. It was almost admirable that she stayed awake the whole time dispatch arrived and even being put onto a stretcher. She only passed out once she was being loaded onto the waiting ambulance.

Notes:

For Ajvball17: If Sukuna had gone home as intended, Yuuji would have been sprawled out on the couch passed out with either the 2nd or 3rd movie he was on still running or on the title screen. Sukuna would have turned off the TV, picked up the blanket that had fallen off at some point and put it back over Yuuji before going to his own room to go to bed.

But you know, Megumi was getting almost murdered so we didn’t get to see that unfortunately. It was nice to think about what would have happened though! :)

Chapter 36: November 4th, 2019 – 9:34AM - Police Headquarters

The hum of the air conditioning filtered through the what otherwise would have been stale air in the vibrant underground office space. The occupants taking a breather from their very hectic morning. Both detective and ABIS leader were sitting in the two chairs across from Yuki’s desk with their legs outstretched and their feet propped up on the edge of said desk. Sukuna’s eyes were closed his head falling back to rest though he didn’t worry about drifting off. By the time the adrenaline had petered off, he’d hit the point of being tired for so long that he was now wide awake. The sight of the paneling of the ceiling above was still being fed to his brain through Ume, who was outside his eye socket and resting on Yuki’s knee in their ursine gel-like form. The view from Ume changed to looking at Yuki as she partially turned to her side, to Sukuna, and began speaking.

“How’s Nobara?”

“Her surgery went well. They’ve moved her to the recovery unit.” She was lucky it had been a clean entry and exit. It could have been much worse if the culprit had twisted whatever they used to stab her. “I’m going to interview her later. Give her some time to settle.”

Yuki nodded. “Let me know when you do. I want to hear what she has to say.” Her expression shifted, expecting the worst, “And Megumi?”

“Still in surgery. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re still working on him into the afternoon.” Since the optic nerve was involved, what with his eye being forcibly removed, the surgery was going to take some time to complete. Sukuna didn’t even want to think about the complications that came with performing an operation that the boy desperately needed while already having been injected with an unknown amount of sedative already in his body. Hopefully it didn’t contribute too much to whatever medical trauma the kid already had. “They should be able to reattach his eye if it’s in good condition. Assuming we can find it.”

“It wasn’t at the crime scene.” Yuki shook her head as she looked back up at the ceiling. “His chances of getting his eye back aren’t good. We haven’t even found the other two.”

“And the warehouse?”

“It’s ready for you to investigate whenever you get there. Also,” she glanced over to the side, at him, again, “anything to say about it being the Itadori Warehouse?” Sukuna peeled open his eye, and slowly turned his head. Yuki raised an eyebrow, “Seems like more than a coincidence.”

Before the split in his vision from two different angles could start to make him sick, he closed his eye and leaned his head back up at the ceiling. “There’s no connection, but it does feel deliberate.”

“How so?” Yuki prodding at what she likely already knew but wanted him to say anyway. Getting them ‘on the same page’ as she would say.

“The company that owns the warehouse, Itadori Fishery, was my Dad’s company. He passed it on to me and Jin a couple years before he died, but we’ve never been involved with it. We signed over rights years ago.” He’d been ready to sign over rights a lot sooner, but Jin, ever the sentimental type, didn’t want to when Dad gave it to them as soon as his health started declining. He couldn’t leave his brother to wallow in that decision by himself. He’d spiral if he did.

“And what constitutes ‘years ago’?”

Sukuna half-shrugged. “Seventeen… Sixteen years ago?” The sight from Ume shifted to look at him. It was always weird seeing himself from a third person perspective. Only able to see his chest and his neck reclined back with his arms dangling off the sides. He could see part of the tattoo on his neck. Ume went back to Yuki’s inquisitive expression as the Ai added their own input. “Sixteen years ago, both Sukuna and Jin signed over their ownership rights to the board of directors. Neither hold shares nor are involved with management. The company is a completely separate entity.” Which made the use of it as a stage for another murder nothing less than calculated. They had plenty of cold storage warehouses to choose from in that district and they just happened to choose that one?

“So what’s your plan? Any people of interest?” Yuki fired another set of questions.

“I’m going to the Warehouse first. I’ll stop by Kenjaku Kamo’s home after, and then by the hospital to see if Nobara’s ready to talk.”

“You think Kenjaku has something to do with this?”

Sukuna could see that old tv in his memory of Megumi’s psync. The kid hadn’t felt free to talk about what he was involved in. He had to know why the politician was there. Maybe it meant nothing, but something in his gut told him there might be something. He had to try. “I don’t know. But he showed up in Megumi’s psync and we don’t have much else to go on. It’s weird enough that he would bring up a politician in a dream. Having it specifically be Kenjaku might mean something.” Or it could mean nothing. He didn’t have many options to pick and choose from.

“I’d add one more stop to that list.”

Sukuna hummed in acknowledgement for her to continue.

“Go home and take a shower.” Sukuna’s opened his one good eye to narrow at her but it didn’t phase or stop her, “Change your clothes too. The blood stains aren’t doing you any favors.” Ume’s eye sight moved and he reflexively closed his left. Through Ume he could see she was pointing at the blood stains on both the knees and upper part of his shins of his pants. Ah. Right. He had been kneeling in blood earlier, hadn’t he? He’d washed off the blood on his hands, but didn’t bother with his clothes. It hadn’t been important at the time, but if he was going out again he’d need to be presentable.

“I believe that is a reasonable addition,” Ume’s artificial voice supplied. Sukuna hummed in both acknowledgement and acceptance. He was going to take just a few more minutes before he had to move. Through Ume’s sight, he saw Yuki hold out her hand to the Ai who leapt into it. She brough them up over to Sukuna and he held out his hand on reflex. “Tell Yuuji I say hi.” Sukuna hummed in response again. Reaching up to put Ume back in his eye socket where he heard the small click when they were back in place. He blinked a few times to adjust his vision before settling back to wait just a few more minutes. Then he’d get going.

Notes:

Okay for realsies this time - we're gonna go see Yuuji. Which means the next chapter is either going to take me awhile or it might be very quick for me to write up. Because clearly these two can have a reasonable, adult conversation and no ones feelings are going to get hurt.

Chapter 37: November 4th, 2019 – Sukuna Residence

Notes:

Good News: The chapter was very easy to write!
Bad News: These two… They’re not… Hmm, well :/

As I said in chapter 19, for this chapter and the next few, I will not be putting a time stamp in the title b/c at this point in the game you had a few locations to go to that you could do in any order. Again, trying to save my sanity here from trying to figure out the timestamps. So for this chapter through until the next time stamp in the title is when these chapters take place.

It might have been a Monday, but it was a holiday which meant no school so Yuuji was home. Sukuna expected a lot of things when he opened the front door. What he didn’t expect was silence. Not so much as a hint of sound as he announced himself home. His keys clanked against the other set in the small bowl on the nearby shelf. There was Yuuji’s shoes as he deposited his own on the shoe rack.

“Yuuji?” it came out neutral as he did his best to curb the immediate unease curling in his chest. It was completely unfounded because right at the dining table was his nephew. There were scattered papers on it and an open textbook. Sukuna let out a bothered sigh. “Say something next time, brat.”

The only answer he received was the occasional scribble from Yuuji’s pencil on paper.

Told you he’d be upset.

Sukuna didn’t acknowledge that they were right as he went down the hallway to his own room. Instead, he pulled the Ai out and set them on the charger on his night stand and exited to his own bathroom. The shower was a nice reprieve from everything over the past few days. Even if it was just for a little bit. He had a towel wrapped around his waist as he assessed whether he should salvage the blood crusted pants and decided they weren’t worth saving. He threw them over a reading chair in the corner. Deal with it later. The only sounds that accompanied him were him going through his closet. He put Ume back in his eye socket as he was getting dressed.

I’m surprised he hasn’t said anything at all considering Nobara and Megumi are involved now. I thought he’d be more pushy about it.

I believe he may be unaware of their involvement. I checked the Wi-Fi router and there’s been no connections made to it since Friday. The news on TV may have covered the incident, but Yuuji’s never been one to check it via that means.

Good. Let’s keep it that way.

We sh-

No.

But they’re his friends.

All the more reason to not tell him. We don’t need him breathing down our necks. Sukuna could feel the disagreement oozing from Ume, but it didn’t budge his stance on it. The teen didn’t need to be worrying about this kind of stuff. He gave his lightly damp hair one last pass through with a towel before throwing it on one of the hooks in the bathroom.

Out at the dining table, Yuuji was still where he had seen him last. Were it not for a few papers that had been shifted, Sukuna would have thought he hadn’t moved since. Fine. If he still wanted to be moody, he’d let him have it for now. They were all stressed. Sukuna moved to the entry way and stooped down to the shoe rack.

“I’m heading out.” There was the sound of a chair roughly scrapping against the floor in the room over. Sukuna slipped on one shoe, “I’ll likely be out late so don’t wait for me.” He was slipping on his other when Yuuji appeared in the small entry way and roared, “THAT’S IT? YOU’RE NOT GOING TO SAY SORRY?” Sukuna glanced over his shoulder to his furious nephew. “Ah, so the little mouse does speak.” If looks would kill, Yuuji would be wanted for 2nd degree murder.

“You left me.”

“And?”

“What do you ‘AND’? Some random cop took me home and you didn’t even tell me where you were going!”

“Someplace that brats aren’t supposed to be.” He stood up to his full height to face the teen, “And in case you’ve forgotten, this is a murder case. Not a bring your brat to work day.” Sukuna pocketed his wallet and keys.

“I know that.” Yuuji stomped over grabbing his shoes from the rack, pulling them on.

“And where are you going?”

“With you.” Yuuji stood up shoes laced, “It’s the least you can do.” The brat tried to move past him to which Sukuna grabbed his arm.

“’The least I could do’?” The words felt sharp as they left him. Sukuna firmly pulled Yuuji back as he put himself squarely in the way of getting out. “I was going to save this for later, but if you want to be an even bigger brat than usual, then so be it.” He let go and pointed lazily at his nephew. “You’re grounded. One week.”

Yuuji actually looked stunned for a moment, “For what?!”

“Did you think I’d forget you broke curfew?”

There was a modicum of guilt that flashed in Yuuji’s eyes, “That’s not fair!”

Sukuna crossed his arms putting on an air of impassiveness. “Two weeks.”

“What else was I supposed to do?!” Indignation painting the teen’s features. But as Sukuna held his ground, no changes to his expression as he cooly regarded the other, that indignation swapped for apprehension.

Sukuna’s voice was cold. Contrasting the fire within. “Want to make it three?” Taking Yuuji along before, Sukuna could at least make the excuse that the victims were in their forties. They wouldn’t care about some random kid. Now that Megumi had almost been a victim, there was no way he was bringing Yuuji anywhere close to this again. The culprit wouldn’t hesitate to hurt a kid. They wouldn’t hesitate to hurt his nephew.

Yuuji opened his mouth to say something that never came. The small bits of defiance smoldering the longer he looked Sukuna in the eye before breaking eye contact all together. Like he was expecting to get yelled at or hit for trying to stand up for himself. The self-critical part of Sukuna berated himself for pushing his nephew to that. How was he any better than them? Sukuna was just bad in a different flavor.

“No,” the word from the teen submissive, distant. The internal berating twisted the knife further. You’re a piece of shit on top of that damn high horse. It whispered fervently in his ears. He didn’t deny it.

“You’re lucky your phone’s already busted or else I would have taken it. No internet or TV either.”

Sukuna-

Quiet.

The Ai’s simmering disapproval in the back of his mind as he continued, “You’re to go to school, then come home. No talking to your friends outside of that or hanging out with them.”

I think-

I said quiet.

The mental disapproval from them strongly bleeding over as he soldiered on. “Now what are you going to do?”

Yuuji didn’t look up as he answered the leading question. “Go to school and come home. No friends, TV, or internet.” A hollowness to his nephew that he hadn’t seen since when they first starting living together.

What’s wrong with you? The internal question directed at himself. He didn’t give it an answer. If Sukuna had to play the villain to keep Yuuji safe, then he’d play the damn villain. “I’ll be out late, so get to bed on time.” He didn’t look behind him as he went out the front door. No one followed him to his car.

Why did you do that? That was unnecessary.

Cause otherwise he would have insisted on going.

But-

Drop it, Ume. He’s staying home.

The burning displeasure from his constant companion buzzing in his veins as he started up his car. The internal self-reprimand joining in but never tearing down his resolve. Yuuji was going to stay as far away from this as possible. He’d make sure of it.

Notes:

Y’all ever think about Sukuna villainizing himself in order to keep Yuuji safe? It hurts.

Chapter 38: November 4th, 2019 – Harbor Warehouse District

Notes:

Investigation time~ Surely there will be no consequences from last chapter.

The warehouses were lined up one by one. Each one with its own company logo or name displayed on the front of the warehouses themselves. Red holographic police tape blocked off the very end of the only pier in the district. Large wooden crates were stacked at various parts of the pier with labels of companies on them. ‘Itadori Fishery Cold Storage Warehouse’ was written plainly above the heavy metal doors of the warehouse at the end. Sukuna inquired with the police officers on scene but there was nothing new to report. To be most efficient, he decided to start from outside and then move inside to the crime scene itself for investigating. Yuki had handled sorting out the crime scene while he was at the hospital sorting out getting the kids the medical help they needed and informing their families.

The first thing he wanted to investigate were the two cars that had been here since they first arrived at the crime scene. Parked near the entrance doors of the warehouse were a van and a station wagon.

Do we know who owns these cars? There was no response. Ume. Silence. Nothing to give any indication of acknowledging him. Also known as ignoring him. Ume, you don’t have to forgive me, but we do need to work together.

Good. I don’t forgive you. That’s fair. And you owe someone else an apology too.

Sukuna pinched the bridge of nose. Guilt gnawing at the recent memory of a vulnerable and dejected Yuuji. Looking way too close to the quiet little kid he used to be when he first moved in. This better not set them back. And whose fault would that be? The scathing remark only adding to the festering guilt.

I know.

Are you going to?

I’ll do damage control. I was already planning on it.

…I’m going to hold you to that. You will rectify this. Ume usually wasn’t this emotional, but he couldn’t blame them. He hadn’t forgiven himself either. And to answer your question: the van belongs to the Kugisaki family. The station wagon was reported stolen last night.

Who stole it?

Nobara Kugisaki.

Nobara? That had him raising an eyebrow.

Yes. It was stolen at 10:53PM in the parking lot of a ‘FamiSto’ convenience store along Meguro Highway. The owner was inside shopping when it happened. The vehicle’s engine was on. The doors were likely unlocked which would have made the theft easy.

Sukuna side stepped the obvious question he had of why the owner would be that reckless with leaving their car both on and unattended. It ultimately didn’t matter since they were here now.

How do we know?

The security footage from the convenience store caught the entire incident and Nobara’s finger prints were found on the steering wheel.

Sukuna glanced over to the second vehicle. What about the van?

Nobara’s finger prints were found on the steering wheel and gearshift. Megumi’s finger prints were found on the passenger seat. And before you ask, Kugisaki does have a driver license for ordinary commercial vehicle use.

She’s 17. How does she have a license for that?

I admit it’s very unusual circumstances, but her documentation in the system is all there. Her license is valid.

But that didn’t address the other issue. If Nobara had fingerprints on both steering wheels, then how did both cars end up here?

There were no other finger prints found inside either car?

None that were made recently.

Did the security footage capture anything on the van?

Nothing substantial, unfortunately. It did show the van pulling up but it was parked just outside of the security camera’s view. The cameras inside the store did show Nobara entering the ‘FamiSto’ store at 10:52PM. There’s no audio, but it appears that she heard or saw something from outside the store that made her run out. Leading to her stealing the station wagon at 10:53PM.

There is the possibility that Megumi had driven the van. All he would have to do was cover his fingertips with his sleeves or a part of his clothing. Or even a third party being involved who could have worn gloves. That would lead to this probable situation. There was also the question on why they had been driving around in the first place. Had Tsumiki not been able to pick up Megumi? They needed more info first before making any definitive connections.

We’ll need to ask Nobara on it when we interview her.

Agreed.

Anything else?

Yes. We did find Nobara’s new phone in the van. It was under the driver’s seat. The data is currently being inspected.

That girl has awful luck when it comes to phones. The thought passed by as Sukuna went inside the warehouse itself. The slight chill from the sea breeze outside was nothing compared to the stinging freeze inside the cold storage. There was a fine mist in the air and he could see his breath.

Inside there were a few floor to ceiling storage shelves labelled A, B, C, and D. The first three were connected along the east wall. The D shelf was near the door on the west side. The forensics on-site, Kagami, was taking notes near the blood stain, labelled with the small police marker ‘B’ indicating its classification in the investigation, in front of shelf C. He didn’t have anything to report either. No fingerprints. He’d also sent the blood for sampling, but that was it. There was another officer on duty near a smaller shelving unit. Nothing to report from them either.

At the back were two forklifts. One near the back door that had ice crystalizing on its wheels from disuse. The second was off in the back corner with no signs of prolonged ice on it like the other.

In the middle of the room was the industrial sized saw. An ice cutting machine now that they could get a better look at it. The workbench attached to it was untouched. The control panel on it was simple. Nothing complicated that would indicate the machine was difficult to use. The employees of the Itadori Fishery company had testified that the machine was always here, so it wasn’t brought in by the suspect. Across from it was the remnants of a laptop on the ground, a toppled camera and small table. They were denoted with the ‘C’ police marker. Up above was a crane hook attached to the steel beam above it.

He inspected the shelves rather quickly. There was barely anything on them at all. Nothing of note stood out to him, but it did make him question whether the warehouse was in use. That would explain the near bare shelves.

Sukuna stepped over to the remnants of the technology. The laptop was split in two at the hinge where it opened. A few of the keys were broken off scattered on the ground where they fell. The video camera appeared to be intact.

These were all bought at pawn shops or thrift stores. It would be difficult or near impossible to find a suspect based on their purchase.

Damn. Then again, if this was the same culprit it wasn’t surprising. They were ruthlessly efficient. Sukuna faced the ice cutting machine from the angle the camera had been at for the live stream.

Ume, could you play the stream recording from this morning?

It barely took them a second to pull up the recording. There was Megumi laid out unconscious on the workbench. The recording played out fast forwarding a bit since there was an extended time of nothing happening. Now, Sukuna could recall the commentary from Ume when the stream was happening live. They hadn’t described the person who appeared on screen. That didn’t bother him at the time because he trusted Ume wouldn’t give him unnecessary information. So that meant the person was either a) someone they didn’t know, or b) they were obscuring their face somehow. If it was the first, he knew Ume would have told him immediately what they looked like once they had started investigating. What he did not expect was that the person who came on-screen would be wearing a complete polar bear costume. That’s one way to obscure everything about themselves. They calmy reached out and pulled the lever on the side of the machine. The saw buzzed to live and the costumed culprit walked off-screen. Fast forwarding more, “Megumi!” there was Nobara yelling the unconscious teen’s name from off-screen before making her own appearance. She quickly glanced over the machine controls before grabbing the lever and pulling on it with some effort to switch the machine back off. She whirled around, her features morphing from frantic to fury, addressing someone off-screen, “You want some, motherfucker? I’ll take you the fuck out!” Then she was off-screen and the muffled sounds of a fight breaking out. The audio skipped for a second and the angle of the camera tipped over before cutting out entirely. The recording slipped out of sight to the empty workbench before him.

What time did Nobara appear on-screen?

She appeared at 3:11AM. Ten minutes after the ice cutting machine had been turned on by the person in the polar bear costume at 3:01AM.

And when the audio cuts out?

That would be 3:14AM. 

That’s three minutes before we showed up which is three minutes for the culprit to get away or hide something. And about four hours from when Nobara stole the station wagon and when she appeared on the live stream that we don’t know what she was doing.

Correct. We will need to inquire with her on this as well. Also, I have logged into the Wi-Fi for this warehouse. The official owner of the warehouse is Itadori Fishery Co., Ltd. However, I did find that the password was written directly on the router. Anybody could have accessed it.

Of course it is. Was there anything on the polar bear costume?

No. We have not recovered anything on it.

Damn.

With nothing left for them to investigate at the scene, they were better off perusing their next destination.

Notes:

So from what I understand, you have to be 18 in Japan to get a license for a regular private vehicle but at 16 you could get a moped license. I'm sure there's some other nuance there with the law that I'm unaware of. I did make some bullshit up though for Nobara to be driving cars and it not be a big deal so know that that is not based on any actual laws that I am aware of.

Chapter 39: November 4th, 2019 – Kamo Residence

Notes:

Who likes getting non-answers from Kenjaku? Certainly not Sukuna.

The person who answered the intercom, a secretary if he could hazard a guess, for the Kamo’s sprawling estate informed him that Kenjaku was not taking any guests at the moment. Sukuna thanked her for the information and walked around the perimeter of the white brick walls with blue roof tiling until he found a favorable spot that he knew led to their well-manicured backyard. It wasn’t particularly hard to haul himself over. The place was just as he remembered. The grass, the sparse trees, and the evenly spaced out round bushes were all nicely trimmed. A few boulders were spread out among all of it to give it a more natural feel to it along with a few traditional looking stone lanterns. But the centerpiece was the rock lined pond. The body of water split by a narrow part in the middle for a smooth upraised stone bridge though the koi in the pond could still swim underneath the bridge to the other half at their discretion. Standing on that bridge, wearing traditional clothing that matched the traditional structure of the home behind them, was the person Sukuna was looking for. Their body guards visibly tensed up once they spotted him coming towards them, but a hand wave from the politician without ever turning his way and they were at ease again. Alert, but no longer perceiving him as an incoming threat. A mistake on their part.

Kenjaku threw bits of something into the pond he was facing. Their salt and peppered hair hung loosely around their shoulders. “Trespassing on my grounds, Ryoumen?” There was a bite that come with it though they still wore that passive smile.

“It’s only trespassing if I’m a stranger. Is that what I am to you, Kenjaku?”

Their eyes narrowed just the slightest. Oh, they were actually angry. Over something like trespassing? Hardly. Something else must have happened to have even a hint of their true feelings breach their social mask. Especially if they didn’t want to play the part of ‘gracious host.’

The politician didn’t move from their perch on the bridge. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Sukuna stayed where he was as the guards were stationed at the entrance for the bridge. Not that it would have mattered, but someone had to play nice.

“Can you tell me where you were at 3:00AM this morning?”

“Sleeping in my home, of course.” The politician threw some of the feed to the fish. “Why? Did something happen?”

“Did you not see the news?”

“Hmm, not yet. I’ve been reading a book. It’s been positively enthralling.”

That was strange. He was sure they of all people would have wanted to keep on top of current events. But it’s not like he knew Kenjaku that well. He filed that piece of information away.

They threw a cutting, polite smile his way. “I don’t know what happened, but I had nothing to do with it.”

Ever the politically neutral answer. That tracked at least.

Ume, can you check if there are any security cameras in the mansion? Sukuna recalled there might have been some back then, but he wasn’t sure if that was the case now.

There are several in the mansion. Though, they are all turned off. There’s no image data for the past few days either.

How interesting and convenient for them.

I’d advise against bringing this up with them.

I wasn’t going to. It’s suspicious, but they wouldn’t reveal anything about it even if we did ask.

“In that case,” the detective reached for his back pocket, making his movements obvious for the body guards, pulling out the school picture of Megumi that Yuki had given him before he left, “Do you know this person?”

Kenjaku took one glance in his direction at the photo then turned back to the pond. “No. I don’t know them.”

“Does the name Megumi Fushiguro mean anything to you?”

“No. That name is unfamiliar to me.”

Do you think they’re lying?

They’re a politician. Their job is to lie.

Well, that’s true…

But all we have is their word. It’ll have to be enough for now.

Sukuna could sense their dissatisfaction mixing with his own as he pocketed the photo. He wasn’t surprised they didn’t get anything. But part of him had hoped they would get something. Yet they still had nothing.

One of the body guards had the gall to take a step in front of the entrance to the bridge blocking him off from Kenjaku. That’s cute. The guard was politely harsh, “Are you done here?”

Sukuna flicked his gaze to theirs. “Is there a problem?”

“Mx. Kamo is a busy person. They can’t let everyone take up their time.”

“There’s nothing wrong with catching up with a friend, is there?”

“Listen, Kenjaku Kamo has nothing to do with whatever you’re investigating.”

Sukuna’s gaze listed over to the unbothered politician. “I didn’t know they were employing detectives now too.” His eyes snapped back to the guard. “Otherwise, you don’t get to decide that.”

The other guard grabbed their companion’s shoulder. They were looking straight at Sukuna though. “We don’t want to get rough. You won’t get anything no matter what you ask.”

“Really now?”

Sukuna, I would take them seriously. Look at their bodies. The right side of his vision turned turquoise as x-ray was enabled. In the waist bands of the two guards were handguns. Neatly tucked away under their shirts.

Are they loaded?

Yes, but it appears they may be rubber bullets from what I can tell. But to even have that sort of thing isn’t in any way legal.

The politician spoke from their high perch and the turquoise part of his vision returned to normal. “Are you done here? If so, I’d like to kindly ask you to leave.”

The dismissal dug into and stung his pride. Whatever. He didn’t offer anything in return as he retreated to the wall he’d climbed over to get in. Like he’d let himself be escorted out the front door. He had some dignity left. The walk back to his car just gave him more time to stew in his negative feelings. A small ringing phone icon appeared in the corner of his vision. Yuki is calling.

“Connect it,” he muttered out as he pulled his keys out of his pocket. The little phone icon connecting the call and Yuki’s voice coming through directly to his brain.

“Heya, I got good news.”

Sukuna slid into the driver seat and slammed the car door shut, “What is it?”

“They finished up Megumi’s operation. He made it.”

A sliver of tension he didn’t realize he’d been holding slipped out of his shoulders. “Is he awake?”

“Nope. He’s still unconscious. They’ve moved him to the ICU. No visitors allowed. Not even family.”

That wasn’t surprising given how much his body had gone through, but that meant one less lead to figure out what happened.

“Nobara on the other hand has been moved to a general ward. Which means she’s allowed visitors.”

Sukuna twisted his keys in the ignition. “Meet at the hospital?”

“Sounds good to me. I’ll see you there.”

Notes:

Sukuna, what dignity are you even talking about.

Chapter 40: November 4th, 2019 – Central Hospital

Notes:

Okay so before Nobara we’re gonna go see Hitomi and Tsumiki who are both at the hospital. Also, y’all I really like having Hitmoi & Sukuna interact. I find it so much fun. You can be a prickly bastard all you want Sukuna, you two are friends. That’s a fact.

With how much time he’d been spending at this hospital, it wasn’t a stretch to say that the staff were getting used to the sight of him. He had been one of the first people the Kugisaki's and Fushiguro's had interreacted with when they’d made it to the health care facility this morning. Informing them on what they needed to know, but keeping out details that were either confidential or info that a parent or guardian didn’t need to hear coming from him. So it wasn’t a surprise when he’d arrived at the front desk asking where Nobara’s room was located that they also told him that Hitomi had collapsed and was recovering in an empty room. He put his interview with Nobara on hold to seek out his old friends’ room.

The door opened before he could do it himself and nearly ran into Tsumiki as she pulled back from bumping into him. “Oh!” She gave a small bow. “Hello Officer Itadori.” She came out of her bow to move past him. “Excuse me.”

“Hey,” she stopped down the hallway to turn back at his call, “Are you coming back? I have some questions for you and your Mom.”

Tsumiki nodded, “Yes! I will! I won’t be long.” And she hurried off to wherever she was going.

Which left Sukuna shouldering his way into the sparse private hospital room. There was a simple hospital bed, a window outlooking the parking lot, a few medical machines on wheels, some cabinets, a tall cupboard, and of course a bathroom. The person sitting on the edge of the bed, Hitomi, looked haggard. Her hastily slung on clothes were a little rumpled no doubt from waking up to one of the worst pieces of info a parent can get that early in the morning.

Sukuna grabbed one of the clipboards from the hanging organizer on the wall as he stepped further in. Flipping through it with feigned interest even though it was informational flyers attached to it. “Alright Mrs. Fushiguro, are you ready for your hip replacement?”

Something resembling muted confusion crossed Hitomi’s features as she met Sukuna’s relaxed gaze. “I’m not getting a hip replacement…”

Sukuna turned a page, and a second one. “My mistake. Are you ready for your shock therapy?”

“It does not say that!!” A smidge of emotion bleeding through those cloudy skies.

“No, it doesn’t.” Sukuna grabbed the rolling chair reserved for the doctor as he got closer and sat down. “But I do know that you passed out. What happened?”

“It’s nothing.” She tried to wave it off. “They told me Megumi’s surgery was done. That’s all.”

Ah, so the relief hit her that hard. The clipboard settled in his lap. “Passing out over that alone is a bit extreme. Was that it?”

“Yes, I’m-“ there was a moment of clarity within the storm before the clouds roiled in once more, “I kept thinking that it’s going to happen again. Just like with Manaka. I’m going to lose Megumi and I can’t do anything.”

“And whose Manaka?”

“Ah, she was my best friend. Manaka Fushiguro. We knew each since we were little. One day she just,” her expression grew distant, “disappeared. Like she just vanished off the planet. And no one cared.” The storm clouds grew thicker, “That was what would happen to Megumi. Just gone.” There was a bit of panic in her eyes, “What would I tell Toji!?”

“Enough.” It came out sharp, no softness to lessen his bluntness. “Stop acting like he’s already dead. Megumi didn’t survive both the incident and surgery for you already be mourning him. Get it together.”

That panic vanished for plain stunned silence. She was laughing in the next second, “Oh Sukuna,” she wiped a tear from her eye – from laughter or grief it was hard to say, “You know just the abrasive thing to make a girl feel better.”

“It’s one of my many charms.” He lightly bopped her on the head with the clipboard, “If this Manaka was that important to you, why’d I never meet her?”

Hitomi pushed the clipboard away with a small smile, “I tried to multiple times. But every time you said,” she crossed her arms, scowled, and lowered her voice in a terrible impression of him, “’No Hitmoi, I don’t want to go have fun with you. No, I don’t want you to tell me more, even though you’d tell me my brother and Manaka are going, and that I’d have a great time. I’m allergic to fun.’” She uncrossed her arms returning to her normal voice. “I think she would have liked you. She liked Toji after all.”

“Toji?” Fishing for an answer that he already knew the answer to.

“That’s my husband. He and Manaka were together before we ended up together. She’s also Megumi’s biological mother. He looks a lot like her.” Her features turned somber once more, but nothing like the rain cloud from before. “When she went missing, I was a mess. But Toji,” she glanced off to the side, “he was a complete wreck. Megumi was only a few months old too.”

“You stole her last name and her man?”

“No!” She snatched the clipboard out of his hand and smacked him with the flat side of it. That finally got him to break into a smirk at her reaction. “Will you listen!!” There was no heat behind it. Hitomi set down the clipboard next to her on the bed. “I knew Manaka would hate it if I kept wallowing in missing her. I basically forced Toji and Megumi into living with me and my girl. And it worked for the most part.” Hitomi was then very focused on thumbing through the filers on the clipboard pages as she didn’t quite meet his eye.

“What?” Sukuna asked and Hitomi didn’t respond as she smoothed out a page. He could tell she wanted to say something but for whatever reason she was holding back. He nudged her shin with his shoe. “Out with it.”

“…did you know I didn’t like Toji when I first met him?”

“You married a guy you hate?”

“I didn’t hate him. More like… strongly disliked. But he made Manaka happy and he was good to her so that was good enough for me.” The next part looked like it was being ripped out of her to admit. “When we started living together though, I started to notice all the good things Manaka had said about him.”

“You know this is your husband you’re talking about, right?”

“I know, I know. I do love him. It’s just a bit embarrassing to admit how it started.” She had a genuine smile. “Toji had taken her last name when they married, and it felt right to take hers too. Like I have a small part of her with me.”

“Who knew you’d be the touchy feely type,” dripping with sarcasm. Hitomi stuck her tongue out at him. “I do have some questions for you. You up for them?”

“I can try my best. What have you got?” Her cheery charm not quite there, but leagues better than when he’d arrived.

“What were you doing at 3:00AM this morning?” Her brows furrowed minutely. “I’m just doing my job. Don’t take it personally,” he tacked on.

“No, I understand. I was sleeping at home. The police came and picked me and Tsumiki up at around 4:00AM I believe. And you told me about all this when we got here.”

That matches what was in the case file.

And we know firsthand that she’s been here since this morning.

“Do you know if Megumi and Kenjaku Kamo knew each other?” The door behind him opened. He kept his eyes on Hitomi but noted Tsumiki walking past with a tray of lack luster hospital food. She set it on the movable side table and brought it over in front of her mother. Hitomi quietly thanked her before addressing his question, “Kenjaku Kamo? The politician, you mean?” Tsumiki took up the opposite of the bed twisting around to watch their conversation. Sukuna nodded. Hitomi’s tone wasn’t quite disapproving, but it was bordering it. “They better not. That would be questionable at best.”

Sukuna hummed at the answer. He directed his attention to the new arrival, “And what about you?”

“Huh?”

“Do you know if Megumi knew Kenjaku Kamo?”

“Umm,” she appeared puzzled, “that name sounds familiar. Who is that?”

Hitomi answered, “They have those white streaks in their hair. You’d recognize them if you saw a picture.”

Sukuna was already pulling up a picture on his phone and turning it the young adult’s way. Tsumiki looked at the photo and recognition flashed across her eyes, “Oh! Yes, okay. I know who you’re talking about.” She scratched at her cheek in thought. “I don’t think Megumi knew them? It’d be really weird if they did.”

Maybe that Somnium really did mean nothing then. Sukuna put away his phone as he directed another question Tsumiki’s way. “What were you doing this morning at 3:00AM?”

“I was at home sleeping. Then the cops came to our home at… oh gosh I don’t remember what time it was when they picked us up.”

Sukuna held up a hand in Hitomi’s direction before she could try to assist her daughter. “Give it your best estimate.”

“Umm, 4- 4:10AM? Maybe? I’m probably off. We were rushing so I’m not sure if that’s right.”

Sukuna nodded. Not giving a confirmation or denial of her estimate. “Did Megumi contact you at all last night? I dropped him off at the Kugisaki’s after our questioning was done and told him to call you.”

“Yes, but he didn’t call – he texted me. He said he was going to be staying the night there and I told Mom about that too.”

Now that was something that garnered a point of interest. “Can I see it? You don’t have to give me your phone. I just want to see the conversation you had with him.”

“Sure. One sec,” Tsumiki reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her smartphone. It was only a few taps before she had pulled up what she wanted, then she was scooting over on the bed to get closer and turning the device towards him.

          Gumi: Hey, got out of interrogation

          You: OH!! That was really long. I’ll come get you!

          Gumi: They dropped me off at Nobara’s place. Is it okay if I stay here tonight

          You: Sure, if you really want to. Did you tell Mom?

          Gumi: No, could you

          You: Just asked. She said it’s okay!

          You: I’ll come pick you up in the morning!!

Sukuna noted the timestamps and dates were for yesterday sometime after he'd dropped Megumi off at the Kugisaki's. He filed that bit of information away as Tsumiki withdrew her phone. If Megumi had been planning to stay at the Kugisaki’s, then what was the reason for them to be driving around at night in the first place? Another question that Nobara herself would have to answer. His attention drifted to Hitomi, who was picking at her food.

“This didn’t feel odd?”

Hitomi shook her head. “No, he’s stayed at the Kugisaki’s before. Since it was a holiday today too, I was fine with it since they wouldn’t be going to school the next day.”

That was reasonable. Sukuna would have been fine with it too if it had been him and Yuuji instead.

“Alright,” Sukuna stood up and kicked the chair back into the corner, “I’m going to check on Nobara. You both should consider going home. There isn’t much for you to do here now that his surgery is done.”

“Aww, thank you Sukuna. That’s so thoughtful of you.” Hitomi’s regular cheery self putting him on the defensive instinctively.

“Mm-hm,” he answered noncommittally as he opened the door back into the hallway. The good byes from both Fushiguro’s following him out.

Notes:

If you saw Megumi's phone, you would see that his name for Tsumiki in his contacts is Miki. I just thought it would be a cute detail to include since we get to see that Tsumiki gives him a nickname in her contact name for him.
------
I like to imagine that normally Toji carries around a picture that has both Hitomi & Manaka in it b/c as besties they for sure took tons of pictures together. He’d say it’s so he has both of his special ladies with him.

Also, Toji had a slightly better opinion of Hitomi compared to hers of him when Manaka was still around. So I find it really funny to think that Toji was the first one to say something when Hitomi & him have been living together for a while and Hitomi just gritting her teeth like yeah I have feelings for you too. It’d be something like this internally with her:
Hitomi @ herself: Toji????
Hitomi, embarrassed & slightly ashamed: I know…
Hitomi, still incredulous, grabbing her shoulders: TOJI????
Hitomi, still embarrassed & a little mad at herself: I KNOW

Chapter 41: November 4th, 2019 – 5:42PM – Central Hospital

Notes:

Two Fun Facts:
1) I had to change the location on where Nobara had initially stole the car from. We were so close to me not having to retroactively make changes! But at least it’s a minor one. :) This change was made in chapter 38.
2) I added in chapter 20 what district the Fushiguro home is located in.

Nobara’s hospital room was about the same as the other rooms. Nothing particularly special about it. Yuki was already there by the window. The girl’s elderly guardian, Mayumi, was sitting by the hospital bed which was currently occupied by Nobara herself. The medical bed having been elevated at an angle so that she was sitting upright. There was a red travel bag thrown near the end of the bed. If he had to guess, Mayumi had brought it for the teen’s extended stay. All eyes briefly went to Sukuna when he entered. He didn’t bother apologizing for making them wait and instead got right to business.

“How’re you feeling?” he directed it to the reclining teen.

“Pretty good,” she sounded more like the haughty kid he’d met, “I’m still under anesthesia so I’m not in any pain.”

“It also means you’re completely out of it,” her grandmother muttered.

“I’m not that out of it,” Nobara grumbled back.

“In any case,” Yuki jumped in as if she knew the two would keep going back and forth if they let them, “now that Sukuna is here, we’d like to proceed with our interview.” She met Mayumi’s singular gaze, “You can stay if you’d like, but I ask that you don’t interrupt Nobara or try to interfere with our questioning. Otherwise, I’ll have to ask you to step outside until we’re finished.”

Irritation spread across the elderly woman’s face as she stood up. “I know when I’m not wanted.” She caught Nobara’s eye, “Don’t go lying now and causing more trouble.”

Nobara rolled her eyes, “I won’t.” The girl’s face scrunched up from Mayumi pinching her cheek. “Don’t give me that sass. You may be injured, but that’s no excuse to be disrespectful.” The teen rubbed the tender skin once Mayumi let go and exited the room. The whole interaction left him feeling the barest hint of nostalgia.

Sukuna took the seat Mayumi had been occupying so he wasn’t looming over the teen. Her eyes were focused as she met his. Good. “You owe me some info. What did you see on November 2^nd that would have made Megumi ‘look suspicious’?” She looked away clearly not expecting to be asked that question. He applied a little more pressure, “Now’s not the time for secrecy, Nobara. Someone tried to kill Megumi and they almost succeeded. We need to know anything that could give us a clue on who that is.”

The teen rubbed at the skin on her palms. “I know that.” She met his gaze again. “It’s just weird, okay?” Sukuna waited for her to continue. The pause giving her a chance to reorganize what she wanted to say. “After I was done working on Saturday, I went home for a bit but then I went out to Akihabara to get a new phone and I stayed out for a while.” She looked down at the blanket covering her and shook her head to herself, “I was going to cross the intersection in Akiba- I think it was around 8:50 or 9- when I saw Mr. Itadori’s car was at the light but it was Megumi who was driving.”

“Megumi was driving it?” Sukuna tried to keep his volume in check. Barely succeeding. 

“Yeah, it was weird. I went up to the window and talked with him a little cause I know he doesn’t have a license. He said he was running an errand for Mr. Itadori and that he had to borrow his car. Said it was an emergency.” Her tone turned completely displeased, “I made him swear that would be the first and last time he ever did something like this. Then the light turned green and he drove off.”

“Was Megumi the only one in the car?”

“Yeah. I would have chewed him out more if he had passengers.”

That… that was a lot to take in. If her timing was right, then Jin was already dead by the time she saw Megumi driving his car. They had the hole in Megumi’s put-together story. No wonder he’d asked Nobara to keep quiet.

This ‘emergency’ certainly did not come from Jin. Either Megumi made it up or the culprit was giving him instructions. Perhaps making him an unwilling accomplice?

Maybe. If only they could talk to Megumi. Sukuna could understand why the teen wouldn’t want the detective to know about this at the time. It did make him look even more suspicious. Now that the boy had become a victim of the culprit, that changed how that piece of information fit in with what they knew. He might have been being blackmailed or threatened. Maybe with his own safety or the safety of his loved ones.

We will need to think further on this.

Agreed.

“Did you see where he was going?” Yuki chimed in.

“No. I was too pissed. I went home after.”

Sukuna tuned back in, “Then what about when I left Kugisaki Diner last night? What happened afterwards?”

“Not a ton. I went to check on my grandma and then I was driving Megumi home. I-“

“Stop,” Sukuna put up a hand for a moment, “Why were you driving Megumi home?”

The teen’s eyebrows scrunched together like he’d asked a stupid question. “Because Megumi said his sister couldn’t come get him. And,” she was gnawing at her lip, “Okay this doesn’t leave this room, but he was pretty freaked out. He was practically begging me to take him home. So I took the diner van to drive him home.”

“But you stopped at a FamiSto.”

“Yeah. Megumi was super tense so I wanted to grab us both a snack.” She looked over at the wall mumbling out, “..to try and make him feel better.” She was messing around with her blanket. “I went inside the store for only a second. Then I heard Megumi yell for help but then the van was already pulling out of the lot and there was a running car already there. So I kind of… ended up taking it to follow it.”

“The station wagon?”

“Yeah.” Her eyes were fiery, “I didn’t mean to steal it!” The fire doused itself in shame. “…I just needed to borrow it.”

“What happened next?”

“Well, I tried to follow the van but it was already gone and I couldn’t find it so I was just driving around trying to find it for a while.”

“Why didn’t you contact the police?”

Nobara looked a little guilty. “I figured that because I’d been kind of a jerk to you that maybe they wouldn’t want to help.”

Oh, for the love of-

Sukuna let out an exasperated sigh. “You shouldn’t have worried about that. Not with something this serious.”

“I know that now! I was panicking! I didn’t want to get in trouble.” She was kneading at her blanket again.

Whatever. What’s done is done. “So how did you end up finding the van?”

Nobara snapped her fingers as if the thought just came to her, “Right! I was completely out of it so I didn’t realize that I left my phone in the car at first.” The teen had an air of pride that could just as well have been from the pain meds, “But once I did I remembered it had GPS on it and had the genius idea to look it up to find where it was.”

“And how did you do that?”

“I stopped by an internet café. I think it was in Shibuya? Or maybe it was Meguro.”

Ume-

Already on it.

Thanks.

Nobara continued regardless, “Anyway, I saw that my phone was at a warehouse near the water. So I went over there.”

“And?”

The teen went oddly quiet for a second, “I don’t really remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“I’ve tried! I remember getting there and opening the warehouse door! Maybe? And then I woke up in the hospital.”

As if all of this wasn’t difficult enough. Sukuna glanced over at the ABIS leader. She gave an imperceptible nod. Ask the questions he wanted to and then she’d make her suggestion. He could probably guess what she was going to suggest. There was a light internal tugging within his mind.

I’ve found the internet café Nobara spoke of. It was in Shibuya. She was on multiple surveillance cameras. Based on the time she arrived at the café and the time she appeared on the live stream, it points to Nobara immediately leaving for the warehouse once she knew where her phone was located.

Good to know.

Also, I believe Nobara may be telling the truth on her lack of memory. I’m sure she would have had some more choice words for you since last you met if she did remember.

Hmm. Could be a trauma response.

“You said Megumi yelled for help. Did you see what happened?”

“No. The van was already leaving by the time I got out to the lot.”

“You didn’t see anyone that looked suspicious before you went inside the store?”

The teen half shrugged. “Not that I saw.”

Now for the question he was most curious to get an answer on. “Did Megumi ask about staying the night at your home?”

“No.”

“He didn’t suggest the possibility at all?”

“Nope. He really wanted to go home.”

The pieces of information added to what they already knew as fact. Something wasn’t adding up somewhere. This wasn’t making sense. It was one thing if Megumi lied to him. Why would he lie to Nobara or Tsumiki?

Perhaps he forgot to text Tsumiki about the change in plans.

But Tsumiki was willing to come get him, so it wasn’t an issue on whether or not she would do it. If he was as freaked out as Nobara says he was, wouldn’t his first instinct be to ask his sister to come get him? Why lie to Nobara about it? Or Tsumiki?

…I’m not sure. We can’t speak with Megumi on this either. He’s not likely to wake up any time soon.

And we don’t have the luxury to wait.

Sukuna inclined his head in Yuki’s direction. Nobara’s attention turned to her as she spoke up, “If you’re having trouble remembering, there is another way we could get your memories working.”

“What? Like therapy?”

“Hmm, not quite.” Yuki pointed over to Sukuna. “He’d be taking a look inside your head.”

Nobara’s eyes narrowed as she analyzed the detective. “You’re a brain surgeon or something too?”

“That would be easier than what I do.” The chair groaned as he leaned back. “We’d hook your brain up to a machine and I’d sift through what pops up there. No guarantee we would be able to get your memories but since it’s still fresh in your mind it should be easier than most cases.”

“Course we do need to talk to your grandmother too and run it by her.” Yuki added on.

Nobara hummed in thought looking off into the corner. She nodded to herself. “Yeah, alright. Let’s try it out.”

“You want to say yes to it that quickly? We haven’t given you any other details.”

“Hey, I want to find out who hurt me and my friends too! If you gotta dig through my head to find something useful then let’s do it.”

Sukuna wasn’t going to complain about the compliance. Made his job easier. They called in Mayumi, who’d been sitting outside the door, to discuss it with her. Thankfully, she was much more thorough on interrogating them on the psync process. They couldn’t give her information on everything, but they didn’t lie to her either.

Notes:

I like that Nobara had her own little character arc in the background of this fic from running at the sight of a dead body & leaving Yuuji behind to willing to run into danger & getting hurt to save Megumi.

More psync time!! This one is gonna be a doozy to write. Y'all will understand what I mean once you see it.

Chapter 42: November 4th, 2019 – syougAI

Notes:

Since this is our third Somnium, I will not be repeating everything I've stated before in my notes on them. Please feel free to skim through my beginning notes on chapter 10 (Yuuji's Somnium) and chapter 26 (Megumi's Somnium) if you would like to refresh your memory on what a Psync is & what occurs.

A refresher on how talking goes on inside a Psync: If text is inside {these brackets}, that indicates that only Sukuna and Ume can hear what the other is saying out loud. If text is in "regular quotation marks", then everyone inside and outside observing the Somnium can hear what was said. Anything with green text is Suguru and anything with purple text is Yuki. ALSO! Nobara will be appearing and speaking in her own Somnium so I've made her text orange. Anything that is shown to be italicized and in (parenthesis) is (Nobara mentally talking to herself but everyone in and outside the Somnium is able to hear it.)

Heavy outlines of darkness filled the room. Barely able to make out any shapes at all within it, but no doubt still there. Frozen. Everything waiting for their part to play. Tendrils of light gathered and condensed to produce a humanoid form with ghostly pale skin. Ume was the only thing with any light in the dark dream. They squinted into the darkness, but nothing revealed itself. They did note that everything appeared much larger from their perspective.

{Why are you small?} Sukuna’s consciousness hovering over the Ai’s form. He glanced up at the barely visible outline of what must have been one of the warehouse shelving units. Ume was tall enough to climb onto the bottom shelf. Emphasis on climb.

{I’m not sure.} They tapped their finger against their temple in thought. {Perhaps it is because Nobara sees us as having a small role in all this?}

Sukuna huffed at that. He’d believe that with her arrogance. {In any case, let’s get started.}

Ume gave their agreement as white electric charges gathered up underneath where the Ai was standing, “Somnium Scan: Activate.” The sparks flew outward reaching every part of the Somnium, catching and categorizing all its little nuisances. The information slipped back to its origin and the location of the Mental Locks appeared in the detective’s mind’s eye. Four of them. Something on the ground not too far from them, a huge dark figure to the south of the room, something in the middle of the room, and something else, a figure, right next to the middle lock.

Once the scan had come back, a floodlight shone down where the first lock was located. Revealing a large patch of ice coating the warehouse floor. None of it penetrated the darkness around it. Ume made the short walk up to it, but stopped short of touching the ice itself.

{What should I do?} The Ai tried to give off the air that they didn’t already have an idea that they really wanted to act on, and anyone else probably would have bought it. But seeing as how they lived in his head, he saw right through it.

{Hmm.} Sukuna pretended to be considering their options. {The ice looks pretty smooth. Maybe you need to slide along it.}

The suggestion was all the encouragement they needed. Gliding along the ice in purposeful strides and adding a waltz jump so they were skating backwards. Ice scratching underneath them as they swirled into a scratch spin. Their momentum increasing as they brought their hands closer to their chest. The spot light narrowed to focus on them.

{Since when do you know how to ice skate?}

{I’m connected to the internet.} They pushed out of their spin with the spot light still following them. {I can learn anything.}

{Uh-huh. It’s not from you begging to watch the winter Olympics when it’s airing?}

{I never complain when we watch archery or shooting for the summer Olympics.} Performing a few quick spins and jumps as they skated along.

{Got a problem with archery?}

{I have no issue with it. The winter Olympics are just superior.}

{Agree to disagree.} That was an age long disagreement between the two. Ume would never change their mind because winter had snow which by default made them love it more. “Five minutes, Sukuna.” The information solidifying his next line. {Let’s focus.}

The Ai gave one more final spin striking a pose with one arm elegantly swept to their side and the other held above them and one foot pointed downwards behind them on the ice. From the darkness echoed polite applause. Roses fell towards Ume under the shining spot light.

The ice shattered and the spotlight vanished. The click of a mental lock unlocking echoing around them. The darkness didn’t last. Two spotlights lit up another part of the Somnium. On top of a small mount of greenery laid Megumi wearing tattered grey clothes that looked like they were worn to pieces. In his right eye, a yellow rose bloomed. Beside him, had to be none other than Nobara. Her clothes consisted of a prince-like, long-sleeved black coat with a cropped cape attached to it, red shorts, red knee-high socks, and dress shoes. Topping it all off, her hair was pulled back with various red rose clips and a mask covered her eyes obscuring them.

The dream prince turned with a flair towards the darkness. “You dare lay a hand on this poor peasant!?” The masked Nobara gestured to said motionless peasant. A few petals fell from the rose blooming in Megumi’s right eye. “You’re a fool to think you’ll leave unscathed.” Her short cape fluttered as she pointed out into the darkness where a third spotlight flashed downward revealing a grizzly looking white polar bear. “You’re going down!”

{Is she insulting him or protecting him?}

{Somehow, she’s doing both.}

Nobara darted forward the same time as the bear did so. She swept out of the way of claws coming her way. Dodging and weaving as they kept coming. Each spot light following the other. As one they froze in space. The bear swinging its claws downward and prince Nobara crouched with her cape and hair swirled into a standstill. Three singular spot lights in the warehouse came to life. One off past Megumi was a treasure chest. The remaining two shown down a little in front of the comatose teen highlighting a yellow and red toy hammer, and an elegant shield. Each with rosy thorns engraved on them. The hammer leaning up against a small mound of foliage and the shield standing upright by itself.

{Do we have to re-create the next part of the fight?}

{Looks like it.} He regarded the treasure chest for a moment, but quickly discarded it. If these were representations of what happened at the warehouse then the hammer and shield had to be reflections of what had been there in the real world. Based on their placements, that would be the tripod camera and the laptop. And based on how they found the crime scene…

{Go to the shield.} Ume briskly moved over beside it. {Can you pick it up?} Despite them being less than half the size of it, they were able to grab the edge of it and move it from where it was floating.

{It is surprisingly light.} They looked over their shoulder to the standstill forms of Nobara and the bear. {Should I throw it?}

{Go for it.}

They flipped the shield onto its side as they took a step back. Throwing the shield like a frisbee towards Nobara. Both masked teen and polar bear springing into motion once the shield left the Ai’s hands. {You’ll want to move.} Ume already jogging out of the way and pulling themselves up onto one of the bottom shelves. “You have four minutes.” Or at least that’s what he thought it was since it was still pitch black.

The bear’s claws swiped downward hitting air as Nobara rolled out of the way. Catching the shield as another swipe was made towards her. Claw scraped against metal creating an ear grating sound that made Sukuna want to cover his non-existent ears in the dream. The polar bear lunged and the claws went through the shield. Barely inches away from Noabra’s face. The animal, claws still inside the shield, reached out and shoved Nobara who let go of the shield stumbling back from the force knocking over the hammer and hitting something that rattled behind her as she sunk to the floor. Her mask was askew then falling off completely. Once it touched the floor, the entire Somnium changed. The unlocking of a Mental Lock followed suit.

{Oh no.} The Somnium lost all of its whimsicalness and was awash in light. Now everything was hyper realistic. Reflecting what had happened in real life. Nobara was in regular clothes her back against the small shelving unit there, Megumi had blood on his face back in his regular clothes, the culprit in the polar bear costume had a pink colored blade of a large kitchen knife stuck in-between the folding part of the laptop. The costumed culprit grabbed an edge of the offending tech to methodically wrench it out. Nobara’s expression was nothing short of terrified.

(Am- Am I going to die?)

Sukuna let out a long-held breath. Ume looked concerned as well as they glanced around the now lit warehouse. {This isn’t good.} The warehouse looked reflective of real life. There were the two fork lifts in the corners, the bare shelves, and the ice cutting machine hanging over a comatose Megumi laid out on the workbench. The treasure chest had turned into a wooden crate and the hammer was the now the toppled tripod camera. Along with a few other miscellaneous things that appeared from out of the darkness. There were plenty of things to interact with now, but that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Somnium’s taking a sharp turn in atmosphere only occur when introduced to significant stress. Which also results in the prior dream logic they’d been following obsolete. “Three minutes.” Damn it. Now they might as well have started the psync from the beginning but with half the time they started with. Nobara’s psyche was in a fragile state. They needed to be extremely careful least they introduce something that makes her trauma worse.

{It appears we chose the correct route, but how do we proceed? If we continue to recreate the fight, we might end up hurting her psyche further.}

{We don’t know what happened in the next part of their fight either.}

Sukuna took one more look around the room from their small vantage point. The polar bear was frozen mid-action and that looked to be the case for Nobara too. It didn’t appear to be anything that had to do with Ume’s ability to slow down time in Somnium. The mask was still on the ground near Nobara and a warehouse controller of some kind? A toppled oil can was near her too.

{The next lock was something in the middle of the room. Was it Megumi or the ice cutting machine?}

{Either is possible. Though I would hazard that the lock itself was referring to Megumi.}

{Why’s that?}

{Nobara had already turned off the ice cutting machine when she arrived. If her prior mental state can inform us of anything, she wants to protect him no matter what. Activating the ice cutting machine or interacting with it further is likely to cause more damage to her fragile mental state as it was only ever used as something to cause harm in her eyes.}

That was as good as an explanation as he could come up with. They could scratch one thing off their list.

{There was no indication that Megumi had been able to get up or assist her in anyway either. I could have believed that would happen in the fairytale version of her dream, but I doubt that would be the case with how it is now.}

{Agreed. Then perhaps the lock itself is a representation of Megumi. The idea of what she’s doing for him.}

{That only leads me to believe we’d need to recreate the next part of the fight.}

{It appears that way. Let us proceed with caution.}

There was little else for them to do but start interacting with what’s around them. {Go look at the mask. Let’s see if we can do anything with it.} Ume hopped down from the bottom shelf they’d been crouched on and made their way over to the fallen mask. It was still the same size as someone of a regular size would wear which meant that it was huge when Ume was right next to it. The mask itself was white with gold accents and had tiny rose details along the edges.

{Can you pick it up?}

Ume grabbed it only for their hand to go straight through it. They tried once more but with the same results.

{It appears not.}

{Hmm.}

The mask might not be very helpful at all then. Maybe later, but not for this next lock. From their new vantage point, he could see the back of the warehouse. There was a control panel at the back wall. He filed away that information. His attention went to the warehouse controller. It was long, with two rows of numbered buttons going up and down it.

{What about the control switch over there?}

Ume turned in the direction of the indicated controller on the ground. {That one?}

{Yup. See if you can touch that.}

Ume scurried over to it and this time their hands did not go through the object. “Two minutes left, Sukuna.” The information registered at the back of his mind. They had to figure this out fast.

{It appears to be solid. Should I do anything else with it?}

{Can you touch any of the buttons?}

Ume pressed both hands on one of the buttons and used their whole body weight to have the button sink down with a click. Both Sukuna and Ume glanced around.

{Nothing happened.}

That was when Sukuna’s eye caught on something. Up in the rafters. Precariously situated at the top of one of the steel beams. The crane hook. It hadn’t been that way at the crime scene. Sukuna followed the trajectory on where it would squarely hit the costumed culprit if it was released. That had to be it.

{Ume, see the crane hook up there in the rafters?} They glanced up before finally settling on the hook. {If this is a recreation of the crime scene, then that hook shouldn’t have been up there unless it was moved.}

{Hmm. Then perhaps the controller does play a role in this.} They glanced back down at the object then to the back of the warehouse and back to the controller. They pointed to the top of it at a black plastic circle. {Perhaps we need to give it power?}

{It’s as good an idea as anything else.}

Ume made the trek to the back wall. On it was a bare power panel. Breaker switches lined the left side of it. The right side had a comically large slide switch that was currently set to ‘off.’ Finding a way to climb up to it was going to take too much time. “You have one minute left!” A real sense of urgency pricking at his senses. They were running out of time.

{Is there anything you can throw at it?}

Ume scoured around the area. They found a small piece of ice the size of a baseball.

{This should suffice.}

{Make it count.}

Sukuna spoke from a place of stress. Not from any doubt in Ume. They couldn’t come away from this empty handed. It was their last line of finding something. Ume wound up their pitch in an almost perfect form that most major leagues would weep over. Leftover research surely from when Yuuji had been into baseball when he was younger. The pieces of ice flew from their hand hurtling straight for the switch. The ice hit the bottom part of the switch forcing it to slide upwards and a green light next to it lit up. Even from this far away, he could see a spec of green light up on the controller at the same time. The clatter of the third mental lock being broken was a passing awareness as Ume went back to the controller.

“Thirty seconds!”

Damn it. They were so close to getting somewhere. They couldn’t stop now.

{Should I try pressing it again?}

{Do it.}

Ume mimicked pressing one of the buttons again but still nothing changed. What now? They gave it power what else did it need? The logic on this was too erratic. Or maybe his exhaustion was catching up on him.

{Might I suggest something?}

{You got something in mind?}

{Our final mental lock was a figure in the dark next to the ice cutting machine: Nobara. I believe we need to get her to perform this action instead of us. We’re playing a small role in her mind, not the lead.}

That was as sound logic as they were going to get, but the question now was how were they going to get the terrified teen to do so. Her thought had been that she didn’t want to die. That’s reasonable. She did end up getting hurt eventually. So she had to get close enough to provoke it. If they were just a small role, then they had to encourage the lead to do what they were supposed to do: lead.

{Think you can give her an inspirational speech?}

{Leave it to me.} The Ai didn’t move from their spot in an effort to save the precious seconds they had left. They cupped their hands over their mouth as they projected their voice to the petrified girl. "Nobara Kugisaki! Are you seriously going to sit there and let them kill you? Have some back bone! Some pride! Make them regret crossing you!"

There was a flash of something in Nobara’s eyes. Something that was slowly shifting from that all consuming fear. (I-) Fierce determination replaced fear. (I’m not gonna die a coward!) She lunged for the warehouse controller and slammed one of the buttons. There was a distinct groan of something moving. The culprit wrenched the knife free tossing the laptop’s remains carelessly to the floor and taking one step in Nobara’s direction. The air sliced not with a blade, but the crane hook coming free soaring through the air and slamming into the costumed culprit’s leg lifting them off their feet and flinging them away near the shelves on the east side. The hook had ripped itself free the moment the culprit was flung away and a steady spurt of deep crimson blood was seeping out of the covered wound. They didn’t move from where they were on the ground. Nobara, breathing ragged, moved closer to their prone form. She was reaching for their mask-

“Sukuna, you’re out of time!”

“No, we’re going to see the culprit’s face!” They were so close. So close to something tangible.

“I’m pulling the plug,” Suguru’s matter of fact tone cutting through.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” an ancient fury rolling off him. He could feel the edges of the Somnium blurring. He focused on where Nobara was grabbing the polar bears head and lifting it up- Something hooked itself in him and forcibly pulled him out of the Somnium altogether.

Notes:

Y'all don't know how difficult it was to write this Somnium. I like how it came out! But damn it was hard to get it there. Well hopefully it came across well to y'all too. :)

Also Nobara's prince outfit is mostly Utena's from Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Chapter 43: November 4th, 2019 – 7:57PM – Police Headquarters

Notes:

Everyone is pissed. With a little surprise too. ;)

To say the control room was tense was putting it lightly. The psyncer and subject now sitting in said room in the few rolling chairs near the high window. Sukuna’s was a little further away from the group which he assumed was intentional on Yuki’s part. Suguru’s taps against the keyboard were a bit sharper.

“What were you thinking?” Yuki’s voice tight with controlled anger as she stared down the detective. Pointing her index finger at him like he was a petulant child. “You know you can only stay in Somnium for six minutes! Any longer and you risk having your mind absorbed by the subject.”

Sukuna rubbed his palm against his eye trying to push back the weariness and slight headache. “I know.” He met her glower. “We were too close to seeing the culprit’s face. I wasn’t going to stop until we did.”

No we weren’t. Great. Ume was against him too. Even if we had seen a face under the polar bear head, it doesn’t guarantee that was the actual person. It could easily have been someone Nobara’s mind put there.

The ABIS leader shared the same sentiments. “You know that’s not true.” She gestured to where Nobara was sitting behind her. She was wearing casual clothes instead of the hospital gown and Yuki’s biker jacket. The girl hadn’t stopped shivering since she got here. Suguru must have carried her up from the psync room. A mirror to him, she was pressing her palm against her eye. “This isn’t just about you. You put the subject’s mind at risk for a clue that doesn’t exist.”

There was one sharp tap against a keyboard before Suguru turned to them. “If I may,” everyone's attention went to him, “there were no abnormalities in either Sukuna or Nobara’s brain waves. They all read as normal.” His face pinched in anger or annoyance. “But pulling a reckless stunt like that made it very close.”

God damn it. Even Suguru was mad.

Sukuna addressed the teen. “Nobara.” She lowered her hand from her eye and to look straight at him. “Did the psync knock anything loose?” He’d be shocked if they got nothing from this. With the incident this fresh and the Somnium having revolved around the incident, she had to remember at least fragments.

“Yeah,” she frowned at him. “I remember your awful compressions, asshole.”

“Before then, smartass.”

Nobara curled up more in her chair. “Yeah, I do.”

“Did you see the killer’s face at the warehouse?”

“Huh? No.”

“What do you mean no?”

“I tried to, but then I got stabbed. They were on the ground and they weren’t moving so I thought they were knocked out.”

The moment of truth. Sukuna hoped against all odds that what he was going to ask was true. They needed this win.

“When you were fighting the polar bear at the warehouse, did the crane hook get caught on the polar bear’s leg?”

She rolled over the thought in her head before sitting up a little. “Yeah, yeah.” There was a twinkle of that fire in her eyes. “It hit their left leg. I’m positive.” That fire dimmed. “When the hook got pulled out, their blood just kept gushing out…”

Yes, finally. They were getting somewhere after all this frustration.

Sukuna. Huh? I’ve checked all the hospitals in the metropolitan area. None have a record of a patient being admitted today after 3:00AM with a wound to the left leg.

The wound we saw in Somnium was deep. If that was what really happened, then they definitely would have needed first aid.

Perhaps a friends or accomplice helped them.

They’ve certainly had enough unwilling accomplices. It’s not completely out of the question.

“So we know the culprit has a deep wound to their left leg,” Suguru commented as he tapped his chin in thought.

“Can’t exactly go around asking about it either.” Yuki added, lost in her own thoughts.

“There’s no records of someone being admitted to any hospitals in the area after 3:00AM with a wound to their left leg, so that’s out of our options.” Sukuna threw in Ume’s information for their consideration.

Yuki shook her head. “Of course not. That would be too easy.”

“Hey wait, I remembered something else,” all eyes turned to Nobara, “The knife I was stabbed with. Do you guys have it? I want to check something.”

“No, but we can get you a still image of it.” Yuki looked to Suguru, “Can you-

The world swirled together. Sounds growing distant though Sukuna knew he was in the same room as them. “What?” The question left him as he felt himself tipping forward. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

Notes:

Everyone was so worried about something happening to Yuuji that y’all forgot I’ve got my mitts on Sukuna too. >:) No one is safe.

Anyways, I wonder how Yuuji’s doing?

Chapter 44: November 4th, 2019 – 9:48PM – Sukuna Residence

Notes:

Is that another Yuuji perspective I see? Surely he’s been doing fine since the last time we saw him.

Also, Yuuji may refer to what he considers to be ‘rational’ here, but remember that this fic has tags on mentioned/referenced child abuse & child neglect for a reason. It makes sense to Yuuji, but might not be the entire truth of the matter. That’s all I can really say right now.

There was light coming from two sources in the home. One from the hallway and the other from a standing lamp in the living room next to the occupied couch. Said occupant was wearing a loose t-shirt and fuzzy pajama pants. The ever-present blanket across the back of the couch over his shoulders as the teen curled up near the arm of one end cuddling an old, well-loved plushie in his arms. Yuuji had to physically stop himself from looking over at the digital clock over in the kitchen again. There was no use in making himself more anxious about it. Yes, he had school tomorrow and Sukuna would be on his ass if he was up after 10PM, but he couldn’t go to sleep. Not right now. He just needed to stay up until Sukuna got home.

Against Yuuji’s wishes, his mind flashed the image of his uncle from this morning standing at the threshold of the entry way wearing a cold expression focused solely on him. Daring him to screw up even further.

Yuuji shook his head from the thought, but the chill from it still lingered. He absentmindedly rubbed one of the arms of the plushie. He felt childish for even bringing out Adorat from where he usually sat on his shelf now that he was older. …But it was the only thing that was bringing him any kind of comfort. Especially after he’d left the house earlier in some impulsive decision to stick it to his uncle only to make it halfway down the street before the rational part of his brain kicked in and he ran all the way back home to have a brutal panic attack. He kept spiraling after he was home. Sukuna would find out he left. He told him not to. Was Yuuji trying to make things worse? He just had to screw it up when this was his last chance. There was no one else to push him off onto. Would Sukuna just push him out the door altogether? That thought got him crying for a good while. His chest felt like it was getting ripped out with each stuttering inhale. Yuuji barely remembered making it to his room and as soon as his eye caught on the ugly plushie next to the pristine tiger one, he was already taking it down from the shelf and hugging it. The pressure on his chest letting up just the slightest bit from the prolonged affection and so the plushie had stayed with him the rest of the day.

The plushie itself was from the Ador- line of stuffed animals. Though they were anything but conventionally cute. Adorat for instance was too big for an actual rat size. It was closer to the size of a big teddy bear with how easily he could still hug the plushie and how big he used to remember it being. The mouth was slightly open to reveal pointed teeth made of felt. It also had two extra set of legs and four plastic eyes of which two of them were slanted at an odd angle. The iris a deep red with no pupils. What might have been the white parts of the eye were instead yellow with two sets of rings surrounding the eyes. Bandages wrapped around its abdomen. Its grey fur was worn out, so where it used to be a uniform grey at some point, now there were varying shades of grey on its body. The second left arm that he was rubbing in-between his fingers was one victim of these worn-out patches.

Yuuji allowed himself to look one last time over at the clock. He still had time. Ume hadn’t called either, so Sukuna was coming home for sure. It was just a matter of when. He let out a sigh as he slouched forward tucking the plushie under his chin. Yuuji wasn’t even sure what he’d say once he got home. There was that kindling of betrayal underneath that base line of fear. Was he supposed to say sorry?

Sukuna’s the worst.

Yuuji refused to believe he did something wrong. The memory of an ice-cold uncaring stare nipped at him. He shook his head letting the kindling burn some of that cold, that fear, away. Sukuna left him behind. That wasn’t his fault. He had every right to be angry. Even if- He took a breath and let it out. Even if he shouldn’t have followed what Dad said. It was such a weird text to get from him. Had Dad been scared too? He had to have been. Maybe he did deserve to be grounded.

Yuuji didn’t regret his choice. He knew he would have gone regardless. He’d apologize properly to Nobara tomorrow. Her presence had given him an extra boost in his resolve, but she didn’t have to see that too. It wasn’t fair to her. The trail of thought stopped there as he heard the distant jingle of a key ring and a key being inserted in the front door unlocking it. The swing of the door and the shuffle of shoes against the floor that was nothing close to the familiar footsteps he expected.

Yuuji left Adorat on the couch along with the blanket. Something felt off. The entry way was filled with three persons. Two of them were Suguru and Yuki, people Sukuna works with if he was remembering right. Suguru had a hand on the door knob while Yuki looked downright irritated as she easily carried the third on her back: Sukuna. His eyes were shut. Completely slumped over. Unmoving. His arms dangled over her shoulders.

Suguru was the first to catch where Yuuji was frozen to the spot. He raised a hand, “Hey Yuuji.”

Yuuji barely heard him. The blood having drained from his face as he kept staring at Sukuna. He was still. Too still. A bloody carousel horse. The glint of a metal hook in the night light. The crushing, numbing void creeping in on him whispering that he was alone. Completely, utterly alone. “Oh my god, is he okay?” The pleading words rushed out in search of an answer.

“He’s fine,” Yuki answered through clenched teeth but he didn’t feel her agitation directed at him. She trudged down to the cross road between the hallway and living area. Yuki nudged her head towards the hallway. “Which one is his room?”

Yuuji’s eyes flicked to Yuki’s, then down the hallway and back to Sukuna. “Uh,” he pointed down the hall in its general direction, “third on the right.”

Yuki adjusted her grip, “Thanks.” Her footsteps echoing down the hall. She shouldered the bedroom door open once she reached it.

“Yuuji.” The voice drew the teen’s attention back to the entry way. Suguru held up a key ring, he knew it was Sukuna’s because of the little hello kitty charm among the keys hanging from it, “Where does this go?” The teen glanced at the key ring, down the empty hallway, and back to the patiently waiting man. He pointed to the shelf where his own set of keys were, “In there.” The keys clattered inside the waiting bowl on said shelf. “We parked his car out front. Will you let him know when he wakes up?”

Yuuji nodded mechanically, “Yeah.”

Suguru smiled kindly closing the door part way, “Tell Yuki I’ll be waiting out front.” The teen nodded and the respectful part of his mind kicked in making him blurt out, “Thank you for bringing him home!” The man’s smile reached his eyes as the door closed behind him. It took another second of staring down the hallway before his brain told him to move, and another second more for his legs to get the message that they should be moving. Every step against the wooden floor adding to the growing tension. Bracing himself once he made it to Sukuna’s bedroom.

The light switch had been flipped and lit the room. Sukuna’s jacket and shoes had been thrown on the floor. Yuki, having rummaged through the man’s pockets, threw his wallet and phone on the night stand without looking and somehow missing his uncle’s artificial blue eye resting on its charger. The wallet skidding across it and sliding off, but she either didn’t notice or didn’t care because she just kept staring down at the sleeping detective laid out on his king-sized bed. His uncle’s chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

“What happened?” Yuki turned in his direction as he came up beside her. The tight knit of her brow relaxing momentarily before returning as she looked back down at the man. The agitation lacing her words were all for Sukuna, “He did something reckless during a psync and overloaded his brain.”

“Is he…?”

“He’ll be fine. Suguru said there was nothing abnormal about his brain waves and I’m willing to bet he hasn’t slept at all lately, so I’m not the least bit surprised that his brain shut down.”

“What did he do?” The teen absentmindedly rubbing the fleshy part of his palm.

“Doesn’t matter. The important part is that both him and Nobara weren’t hurt.”

“Nobara?” Yuuji took his eyes off his uncle to meet Yuki’s questioning ones, “He psynced with Nobara? Why?” He still didn’t completely get what it is that Sukuna does for his job. He kind of understood it. He looked inside people’s heads. For clues or something. Why did he do that with Nobara? Didn’t she already tell them what happened last Friday?

Yuki’s eyes went to Sukuna then back to Yuuji. Understanding passed over her and she slumped her head forward blonde hair curtaining her face as she mumbled something under her breath. She straightened up just as quickly pushing her hair back over her shoulders. The teen stiffened when she put her hands on his shoulders wearing a serious expression.

“Did he tell you about this morning?”

“No…?”

The seriousness slipped off a little as she sighed. She looked tired. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we had a development with the case Sukuna’s been working on. We’re fairly certain that the culprit attacked Megumi early this morning. He’s fine,” she quickly added on when distress leached out of Yuuji’s expression, “He did get injured, but Nobara was nearby to intervene so he wasn’t hurt as much as he could have been. Unfortunately, she did get hurt in the process. She’s fine too,” adding on once again at his distress, “They’re both being taken care of at Central Hospital. Sukuna made sure of that.”

Yuuji absorbed all the information at once. Cramming against all the tragedies that have been happening the past few days. Had it really only been a couple days? Sukuna’s chest peacefully rose and fell in his slumber. Pure indignation ignited in the teen’s veins at the withheld information. “They’re my friends! I had a right to know!”

Yuki held up her hands, “I agree. He should have told you.” She moved her hands palms up at her side in a shrug, “But I understand why he didn’t.”

“And what reason would that be?!” Despite him raising his voice, his uncle kept sleeping unperturbed.

“He didn’t want you to worry.” She shrugged again when his ire went her direction. “They’re being taken care of. You can’t do anything for them,” that took the wind out of his anger filled sails, “and telling you wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Embers remained of his rage. “I could have gone and seen them.” Sparks flying off his words.

“You couldn’t have done that either.” Yuuji tilted his head at her statement. “Megumi’s in the ICU. Not even his family can see him yet. I guess you could have seen Nobara.”

The embers burned a little brighter with the information. “He should have told me,” Yuuji couldn’t deny that he sounded like a bratty little kid.

“Agreed.” The woman looked down at the detective with a familiar agitation. “We can’t do anything about it. You know now.” She threw the teen a half-smile. “Try and cut him a little slack.”

Yuuji didn’t want to give his uncle anymore slack then he deserved. He had a right to know these things. He could have told him this morning. But… Sukuna’s breaths were still even. He looked so calm. Relaxed. Were those eye bags? How did he not notice those? And all Yuuji had been doing was sitting at home. Complaining and whining. Doing nothing to help while his uncle ran himself ragged.

“He’ll sleep this off and you can tear into him all you want. I know I will.” Yuki’s bright tone unable to penetrate the gloom that surrounded the boy.

“What-” the thought seized his heart. Squeezing it whispering that he’s alone, “What if he doesn’t wake up?”

“He should,” Yuki brought the cheer down to a calm neutral, “Tell you what: if he doesn’t wake by noon tomorrow, call me and we can figure it out from there. But I think he just needs to sleep it off.”

Until noon. The definitive time gave him something to latch onto and latch onto it he did. Sukuna needed to rest. That was easy to understand.

“Okay,” Yuuji breathed out his response, “I don’t have your phone number though.”

“Ah, you-“ Yuki paused mid-sentence. Considering something in her mind before continuing, “You got a piece a paper? I can write it down.”

The two retreated to the kitchen where he grabbed a sticky note and pen from the junk drawer. Yuki had her number written down along with her name in a flowy signature in no time for him to reference. Yuuji accompanied her to the front door and thanked her for bringing Sukuna home. She brushed it off and reminded him to call her at noon tomorrow if nothing happened. The teen waved to both Yuki and Suguru, he’d been waiting by a car he wasn’t familiar with, before closing and mechanically locking the door. He stared at the door a little longer after he’d flipped the deadbolt.

Yuuji padded down the hall to peer inside his uncle’s room. The man himself still fast asleep on his bed. The teen quietly went about picking up the discarded shoes and jacket on the ground. The shoes he returned to the shoe rack near the front door and the jacket he hung up in the hallway closet with the others. He grabbed the fallen wallet and almost went to put it where it usually was with his keys, but decided to leave it on the night stand. The artificial eye staring out from its charging port all the while. Yuki must have taken it out and he was thankful for that. It was gross watching Sukuna take out his whole right eye like it was completely normal. You’d think he would have gotten used to it since Sukuna’s always had it, but no. Why couldn’t he have gotten a glass eye instead? Yuuji didn’t linger on the thought.

Sukuna was on top of the covers. There was no way Yuuji could move the man to get him underneath them on his own. His brain was circling over the logistics on how he could possibly do it without dropping Sukuna flat on his face when the thought of a much simpler solution passed by. The teen retreated out to the hallway, opened the linen closet, and grabbed the thick hand-made quilt near the top shelf. The quilt was queen-sized, so it didn’t quite fit his uncle’s bed but it was good enough to keep the man covered for the night. Yuuji looked into the bedroom from the entryway. His uncle’s chest rising and falling without fail. The light switch clicked off bringing in darkness. Yuuji reached for the door to close it, but decided it be best to leave it open for now. He’d need to check on Sukuna anyway.

The blanket in the living room folded and laid across the back of couch in its usual place. The lamp’s light extinguished plunging the living area into darkness except for the light pouring from the hallway. That light was flipped off too as Yuuji walked by with Adorat in one arm on the way to his room. The teen’s bedroom door creaked as he pushed it open, but he didn’t head inside. That nagging feeling still gnawing at him. The same one that had pushed him to stay up until Sukuna came home. But he was home now. He didn’t need to keep feeling like this. Yuuji glanced down the hall to the open doorway. His eyes having adjusted to the darkness enough to see the void beyond it.  

The bedroom door creaked once more ‘til it clicked shut. Footsteps following down the hall into the open void. The door closing halfway upon its additional inhabitant.

Yuuji crept over to the other side of the massive bed and slid under the quilt grabbing one of the extra pillows simultaneously. He curled up on his side with his back to the other occupant. It lasted all of a second as his anxiety compelled him to turn over and strain his eyes to check that his uncle’s chest was still moving. The teen closed his eyes and that gnawing came back. He had to check. His eyes cracked open waiting a beat to see Sukuna was indeed still breathing. Instead of waiting for the feeling come back a third time, Yuuji gingerly reached out until his fingers bumped up against his uncle’s arm. He grabbed it, bending it at the elbow and pulling it upward so the detective’s palm was face up. If he didn’t feel like a little kid before, he sure did wrapping his hand around Sukuna’s wrist. He might as well start calling the singular solid black tattoos on his uncle’s wrists his ‘bracelets’ again like he did when he was really little and didn’t know there was a different word for what they were. Yuuji could hear the ghost of Sukuna’s cackling over a very young version of himself trying to earnestly explain that that’s what they were called. Whatever. The pulse he could feel under his fingers was enough to keep his anxiety at bay and allow him to close his eyes in peace.

There was no way he could go to school tomorrow. Yuuji had tried to indulge some kind of normalcy by studying for that make-up science exam, but he couldn’t tell you what textbook pages he’d been looking at this morning let alone what he should have been studying. With Sukuna like this, there was no way he could leave him here by himself. Yuuji tucked the large plushie against him. He’d call the school tomorrow and tell them. They’d probably understand the circumstances and even if they didn’t it was fine. Sukuna wouldn’t be happy about it, but that was fine too. His uncle could be mad at him all he wants. Just as long he wakes up.

Notes:

While writing this, I went and grabbed one of my old plushies on my shelf that I’ve had since I was little and had them sit next to me. The fur on them is discolored in different places, and they may not be as soft as they used to be but I think my love for them makes it feel just as soft as when they were brand new. Make sure you give some love to your old plushies today, y’all.

The Ador- plushies are a thing in the game itself. So far they’ve got Adorabbit and Adorooster in the series. They’re all a little ugly but like in a cute way. I thought it’d be interesting to put some of Sukuna’s original form’s features on what would be considered a ‘monster’ that’s been well-loved by Yuuji. Honestly, I think Adorat would be kinda cute if it was real.

Chapter 45: November 5th, 2019 – 8:02AM – Sukuna Residence

Notes:

It’s not mentioned here (more implied), but Yuuji did call Yuki that morning. He asked a bit more about Megumi & Nobara’s state of health just so he could have a better idea on how they’re doing. Yuki was willing to share that info now that Yuuji’s had some time to rest & she knows that Sukuna wouldn’t give the kid any details.

Self-awareness came to him slowly. Grogginess shadowing him as he cracked his eyes open. Sukuna stared up at the ceiling for a solid few minutes. The mattress underneath him shifting as he sat up and took stock of his surroundings noting that he’d fallen asleep in his clothes and his wallet was on his night stand. He didn’t remember making it to bed. Had he been that exhausted? He hadn’t made it under the covers either. He would have questioned why he had Mom’s quilt out more if he didn’t catch that ugly rat plushie sitting on the other half of the bed. There were soft footsteps approaching his open door from the hall.

Yuuji, still in pajamas, arrived in the threshold. The teen’s eyes immediately locked with Sukuna and a grin lit up his face. “I made breakfast. I’ll go warm yours up.” And the boy left down the hall once more.

Sukuna pushed the quilt off to the side sliding his legs out so they touched the floor. Scrubbing at his face to wake himself up. One more beat of sitting there before he reached over without looking, grabbed the artificial eye, and inserted it into his eye socket. He picked up his phone to see the time and put it back down.

How long was I out?

About 12 hours. The short reply from the Ai was all he needed to know that they were still upset with him. Yuuji slept next to you last night. You made him really worried.

How’d we get home?

Yuki and Suguru. They also brought your car.

Sukuna slouched into the palm of his hand resting against his knee. Yuki was going to chew him out for sure, and he’d probably get the cold shoulder from Suguru. A feat in itself. So much for never doing something as reckless as that annoying white-haired detective. The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Not to mention he still had to make up for the last time him and Yuuji had talked. This wasn’t a great start. Wait.

What’s the date?

November 5^th. Tuesday.

The quiet of the home was broken by Sukuna’s purposeful thundering strides down the hall and into the living area. Yuuji blinked in surprise at him as the boy set down a filled plate on the dining table. The detective pointed accusingly at his nephew daring the boy to challenge him, “You had a make-up exam today.”

Yuuji’s features twisted in vexation. “You’re unbelievable, you know that?”

“You think you can weasel your way out of this?” Sukuna crossed his arms. “I’m not letting you throw out your hard work.” He threw a thumb behind him, down the hall. “Go get dressed. I’m taking you to school.”

Yuuji, the little brat, mirrored him by crossing his arms. “No, I’m not going.”

“Don’t make me say it a second time, brat.” An easy sneer gracing the detective. “Or I can drive you there as you are now. I’ll call your school and let them know you decided to wear some new fashion. I’m sure it will go well.”

The teen threw his hands up beside him, “Go ahead and call them! I already asked if I could take the day off and they said its fine.” There was the barest hint of a snarl, “They were more understanding of it than you.”

That struck him rightfully in the gut. Dousing the fire that had been his burst of energy. Sukuna rubbed at his eyes with one hand keeping it there for a second before looking back up at Yuuji. “Did they say anything about the make-up exam?”

The teen lost a bit of his edge in response to Sukuna’s calmer demeanor. “Yeah, I asked about it too. They said they’ll re-schedule it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

They stood there looking back at each other. Neither wanting to provoke the other. Sukuna glanced down to the kitchen table. Steam was still coming off the food waiting for him. With a muted sigh, Sukuna crossed the short distance stopping short to knock the back of his knuckles against the teen’s chest. “Go get dressed. You’re not staying in your pajamas all day.” Not waiting for a reaction, the man took a seat to take the peace offering.

“You’re not gonna take me to school?” the question drenched in skepticism.

“Do you want me to?”

“I didn’t say that…”

“Then no.”

Sukuna didn’t turn around to watch Yuuji leave the room. A shaky peace fell over the home. The detective ate in silence finishing it off quickly, but barely tasting anything. He carried the empty plate over to the sink and turned the faucet. Sukuna needed to get this case settled. They were so close.

“Can I come with you?”

Yuuji’s pleading voice drew him out of his thoughts. The teen was dressed for the day now. Street clothes rather than his school uniform. Sukuna turned back to the running water, scrubbing the dish once more before shutting it off and drying his hands on a dish towel. “No.” The detective shook his head. Still not looking at his nephew. “We’ve talked about this. This is a murder case. You shouldn’t be near any of it. I’m fine with you staying home, but that’s it.” It’s not like he’d planned to keep Yuuji grounded for that long anyway. Just enough to keep him out of the way.

“What about me?” The thickness in Yuuji's voice making the words stick to his throat. Sukuna had no choice but to look over. The teen was staring intently at the ground. “What about how I feel?”

“Brat…” Sukuna took a step away from the sink.

His nephew’s eyes flashed up to meet his. “Do you have any idea what it felt like seeing them drag you inside last night?” There was a fire in the teen’s eyes contrasting the thickness in his voice. “I thought you were dead or worse.”

Sukuna grimaced. “I made a mistake. It’s not going to happen again.”

“Yuki said you did something reckless during a psync. A psync with Nobara.” The detective kept silent at the implied accusation which just left it open for Yuuji to keep talking. “Her and Megumi got hurt because of this case, right? They’re my friends. You should have told me. If they’re involved, then I have more of a reason to be too.”

“And if it was my way, they would have stayed out of this.” Sukuna didn’t meet his nephew’s burning gaze as he crossed the room and eventually by him. Stray bits of guilt twisting and stabbing at his own dismissal. Yuuji didn’t need to be involved. He kept repeating the thought as his internal self-critical voice had something to say. You can’t even say one nice thing to him? Cycling through both as he returned to his bedroom. They didn’t leave him alone for a second as he mechanically went about changing, quickly washing his face, and pocketing his phone and wallet. Yuuji’s stuffed animal was gone. He must have put it back in his room. Mom’s quilt was folded up sitting on the edge of his bed. The material still soft in his arms all these years later. Yuuji had his back against the wall down near the end of the hall. Sukuna didn’t say anything as he put the quilt back in the closet it usually stayed in. The click of the closet door closing echoing loudly in the empty space.

“I’m coming with you,” quiet resolve filling the gaping silence.

“No.” Sukuna’s eyes fixed on the closet door. “I’ll figure it out. Just stay home.”

“My parents are dead, Sukuna.” Vitriol spitting out cutting through the air itself, “Nobara can barely walk and Megumi is pretty much in a coma.” The light caught the growing shine in his nephew’s eyes. “Don’t make me stay here and do nothing.” Yuuji didn’t stop the tears as he held Sukuna’s gaze. “Please,” the word small and desperate.

Sukuna didn’t let anything show on the outside. But internally, his nephew had reached something inside him and cracked it. Yuuji hated crying in front of him. He hadn’t always been like that. Just another thing he had to thank Kaori for. The fact he was willing to do so right now showed just how desperate the teenager was. Don’t cry. He could never say it. He wasn’t meant for saying soft things like that – it’d come out twisted and accusing.

Sukuna.

Don’t-

No. You’re going to listen to me. Steeliness from the Ai biting through his mind. You’ve been isolating him.

No I-

Yes, you have. He needs someone and you’re the only one he can rely on right now.

There was that initial gut reaction to keep his nephew out. His work was already dangerous by itself. He didn’t need to get close to it. Yuuji needed to stay somewhere that he knew he’d be safe. He couldn’t lose him too.

I know you don’t want him involved or to get hurt, but you’re already hurting him. You’re his legal guardian now. Start acting like it.

Ume pierced through the crack that Yuuji had created. His nephew had seen both his parents’ corpses and all Sukuna did was block him out further. Pushed him into a corner. He had to find out what happened to his friends from someone else. That wasn’t fair. Fighting against the part of him that demanded his nephew stay out of sight, the part of him he could acknowledge in this moment was from fear - fear of losing the last person he cared about in this world, he knew what he had to do. If Sukuna wanted to fix whatever they had left, he couldn’t keep treating him like a little kid. Yuuji silently stared down at the floorboards. Waiting to be left behind again.

“Go get a jacket.” His nephew’s eyes widened as he met Sukuna’s once more. “You’re coming with me.”

Yuuji wiped at his cheek, “You’re not going to leave me somewhere again?”

“No.”

“Promise.” Yuuji swiped the back of his hand at the other side of his face with burning determination in his eyes, “Promise you won’t leave me.”

“Fine. I promise I won’t leave you. Now go get a jacket like I said to.”

Sukuna grabbed his own jacket from the hall closet and waited at the front door while his nephew scampered off. It only took a couple of minutes for him to emerge wearing a white-grey hoodie underneath a red and white letterman. The boy’s eyes were still a little red and he sniffled, but Sukuna pretended not to see or hear it as they left.

Notes:

Thank you Ume for helping get through Sukuna's stubbornness. Maybe now they can both try and heal from this atrocity.

On another note, I've started a little side story that connects to this AU and *throws confetti* it's a flash back. One of the famous 'a day out with Uncle Sukuna' that was mentioned in chapter 1, so that will be fun. It'll likely be a one-shot. I still need to finish writing it, but y'all will be the first to know once it's ready! I'll likely just make a series so I can link the two together. :)

Chapter 46: November 5th, 2019 – Harbor Warehouse District

Notes:

As I said in chapter 19 & 37, for this chapter and the next few, I will not be putting a time stamp in the title b/c at this point in the game you had a few locations to go to that you could do in any order. This is all for the sake of saving my sanity. So for this chapter through until the next time stamp in the title is when these chapters take place.

The drive to the warehouse was quiet. By the time they arrived, the emotional tension had dissipated for the most part. Police were still crawling over the scene. The area was cut off to the dock workers so no one could tamper with the crime scene. Even though he had reason to be there, they still had to walk down the pier on foot. No cars were allowed further down it from where the holographic tape was set up.

The stolen station wagon and the Kugisaki’s van were in the same place as last time they visited. The officers on-site didn’t have any new info, but he wasn’t surprised nor did he expect them to have anything. It was mostly habit that he asked. Sukuna glanced over to where Yuuji was staring up at the warehouse with a furrow in his brow.

“Hey,” Yuuji glanced back to Sukuna, “Got something to say?”

The teen gaze flicked back up at the warehouse sign, “It has ‘Itadori’ in its name. Doesn’t that seem like a big coincidence?”

“Hmm, yes and no.”

There was an unspoken question behind Yuuji’s eyes.

Sukuna pointed up at the sign. “The warehouse is owned by Itadori Fishery. It has no connection to us, but,” the detective shrugged, “it was founded by Wasuke Itadori. My dad, your grandpa.” He let his nephew digest that info while he went for the warehouse entrance. The freezing temperatures getting under his skin while he talked with Kagami, still somehow working in the same durable, dark blue MPD uniform and hat, complete with his face mask, as usual. The inspector immediately got on the phone to put in a rush order on the blood sample. If there were no other blood splatters, and Nobara was stabbed when she tried to unmask the culprit, then the only place the blood could have landed was the same red puddle Nobara had been laying in when he found her. The blood sample would show two different types of blood present if he was right.

“What was he like?” Yuuji had come inside at some point and had been waiting nearby. The question asked after the adults were done speaking. “Grandpa.”

“A pain in the ass,” the answer came out reflexively.

“O-oh.” You didn’t have to be a mind reader to tell there was something else on the teen’s mind.

“What?” Sukuna prodded.

“Um, well-“ Yuuji’s voice became a little meek, “Dad said you and grandpa were pretty similar.”

That’s right. He’d almost forgotten.

Wasuke’s health had already been declining by the time Yuuji was born. With both his health problems and a new born’s immune system, it wasn’t a good idea to even attempt to have them near each other. Then Dad got steadily worse as the months went by to the point where trying to find a time where both Wasuke was in good health and Yuuji wasn’t going to compromise it was impossible. Dad had wanted to meet Yuuji. The old man was stubborn as hell and would never admit that he was disappointed that they couldn’t do it. Sukuna had been mad at himself for not being able to make it happen. The best solution that his brother had come up with was something he didn’t tell anyone about until he was handing over an envelope to Sukuna saying to give it to Dad. It was a surprise to both of them when Wasuke opened it up and a bunch of pictures of Yuuji, at least one for every month, spilled out onto his hospital bed. Those stayed nearby his bed no matter if they were at the hospital or if he was able to get discharged to go home for a bit. On the rare occasion where Jin wasn’t working himself to the bone, he’d visit and just happened to have a new picture of Yuuji that he had a spare of and insisted that Dad hold onto it.

Those thoughts came by in quick succession and at its conclusion was the slow creeping sorrow settling into his bones. First Mom, then Dad, and now his own brother. He’d outlived all of them.

“Yeah,” Sukuna’s voice sounded far-off from where they were, “I can see that.” He stepped past his nephew, not willing to see if there was any pity in the boy’s eyes. “Come on, we’re done here.” He held the door open for the teen as they left the frigid warehouse. Sukuna still didn’t look when he felt a hand loosely grab a hold of his wrist. Part of him thinking if he looked to his side, he’d see a much younger Yuuji than the sixteen-year-old of the present.

“Where are we going?”

“Central Hospital. I’ve got something to ask Nobara.” Sukuna didn’t comment on the fact that Yuuji didn’t let go the entire walk back.

Notes:

There was no way for me to put this info in here without it feeling shoehorned in, but Wasuke ended up dying in 2005. Yuuji was barely two years old.

Chapter 47: November 5th, 2019 – Central Hospital

Notes:

Nobara and Yuuji get to see each other!! I feel like they really need it with everything that's been going on the past few days for them. The last time they saw each other was when they found Kaori's corpse after all...

The good news is that Hitomi and Tsumiki weren’t at the hospital. Staying there wasn’t going to make Megumi get out of the ICU any faster. They needed the rest. Sukuna let himself inside Nobara’s hospital room. She glanced up from a magazine she was reading, back in her hospital gown and leaning back on the incline the top half of her bed was angled at, when Sukuna opened the door.

“Hey, you’ve got a visitor.” Sukuna stepped to the side to reveal Yuuji following right behind him. Her magazine plopped onto her lap as the boy waved in greeting, “Yo Nobara!”

“You!” Nobara sat up and aggressively gestured for Yuuji to come near, “Come here!”

“Sure. What’s up?” The teen crossed the space with no regard for the other’s hostility, and when he was close enough she grabbed his jacket with both hands, yanked on it, pulling a startled choke out of Yuuji as he was bent forward because of it, and wrapped her arms behind his neck. The teen’s hands hovered over her, “Nobara, your stiches!”

“Fuck my stiches! Hug me back!” Yuuji gently returned the hug, mindful of the fact that while Nobara didn’t seem to care, she was still freshly injured.

“You have some answers for me,” Sukuna decided to butt in after waiting a moment for them to break apart. Clear displeasure directed his way from Nobara, “Are you going to faint again?” She leaned towards Yuuji, who’d grabbed a chair nearby to sit next to her bed leaving Sukuna to stand. “Can you believe he looked inside my head and then passed out?”

The brat mirrored her displeasure, “Oh, I know.”

“In any case,” their attention fell back to him, “are you going to give me those answers?”

“Did Yuki not tell you? Or the other guy? The one with dark hair and bangs.”

“I’d rather hear it from the source.”

She shrugged and sat back to settle herself in. “Suit yourself. Did you see the picture of the knife from my dream thing?”

At that moment, Ume pulled up an image in his right eye. Not taking up the entire vision, but big enough to see it was a close up of the polar bear wielding the knife from the girl’s Somnium. The pink colored blade was a kitchen knife, a fairly long one at that, with little floral decals near the straight edge of it from handle to point. The image minimized out of view. “I did.”

“Okay, so I don’t how it got there. But that’s my Grandma’s.”

“It’s your grandma’s?” Laying heavy on the emphasis to get what she was implying, “You were stabbed by your grandma’s knife?”

“Now listen here,” Nobara’s pointed at him from her reclined position, “Do I get on my Grandma’s nerves? Yes. Has she wanted to kill me over something dumb I’ve done? Yes.”

“Uh, Nobara-“ Yuuji tried to cut in, but she either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

“But even if she wanted to kill me, why would she bother using her favorite cutting knife?” She crossed her arms over her puffed out chest at her own conclusion. “If she wanted to kill me for real, she would have done it a long time ago.”

“Hmm, maybe she wanted to kill you with love. What better way to do so than with her favorite knife?” Sukuna wasn’t committed to the idea. The image itself was nothing they could ever use in court or as evidence for getting a conviction. It was from a dream after all. Otherwise, his job would be ten times easier.

“No way! She would have used a dull knife! Something that I’d feel in the afterlife,” she looked like she’d swallowed something sour.

“And you didn’t take it with you?” Sukuna asked. Nobara shook her head. “Do you know if it was at your home the day before?” he asked further.

“It totally was! I remember seeing it on the counter. She uses it all the time.”

If that’s the truth, then how did the knife get to the warehouse? Or in the culprit’s possession?

Well, there was only one other person who was at the Kugisaki’s home, left that same night, and ended up at the warehouse.

Do you believe Megumi took it?

It’s possible. Until we find that knife we can’t say for sure it was used.

Agreed, but let’s discuss this a little further. If we assume Megumi was the one to take the knife, what purpose would that serve? I would speculate that it was self-defense.

Hmm, but if we pair that with both Tsumiki and Nobara’s conflicting testimony on Megumi’s plans that night, along with the fact that we didn’t see who stole the Kugisaki’s van at the FamiSto, then I would assume Megumi might have been planning to see the culprit and had armed himself.

It didn’t help the kid in the end if it was true, but he gets points for trying. There was a period of time where no one knew where Megumi was, not even Nobara, leading up to the livestream. In that time, he could have met with the culprit. For whatever reasons. It would also explain the conflicting testimony from his sister and Nobara.

Interesting. I’m not sure I fully believe it, but it is plausible.

Why’s that?

I just took a look at Megumi’s chart in the hospital’s system. It’s been updated since after his operation. There were no external wounds on his body besides his missing eye.

No external wounds at all. That would make sense since Megumi was heavily sedated, but not even any scratch marks or broken nails? If Megumi had taken the floral knife, why didn’t he use it? Why didn’t he fight? Just how coercive was the killer?

“Hey,” the two teens chatter on whatever nonsense topic ceasing, “Do either of you know if Megumi is much of a fighter?”

“Yeah, he knows how to fight. I don’t think it’s professional though.” Yuuji giving a thoughtful answer.

“Are you kidding? You remember what he did to those punks that were messing with those first years a while ago?” Nobara tapped the boy’s arm like that would help him recall.

“How could I forget? That was terrifying.”

“You were scared?!”

“You weren’t?” the question rising with incredulousness.

“Of course I was scared! He was completely unhinged!”

Sukuna let their little conversation fade into background noise. If Megumi knew how to fight, then that just made his questions more pertinent. They weren’t going to get any answers on them anytime soon. Only the culprit or Megumi could answer why he didn’t fight. There wasn’t much else for Nobara to provide info wise, so Sukuna let the teen’s talk a couple minutes longer before cutting in. The next place on their list was Lemniscate.

Notes:

I like to think that the moment Nobara and Yuuji are talking about when Megumi was beating up some bullies that Yuuji had considered for a second whether he needed to save the bullies from Megumi (he did not).