Dubiously, Osawa slipped the attached earbuds into his ears.
He heard the gentle sound of surf. The simple rhythm of waves crashing and receding drew him in; he listened with unexpected pleasure.
Time went by, comfortably, as if he were standing alone on some remote beach.
<Tokyo Denko University>
A prestigious national university founded over a century ago. Applicants who place highly on the entrance exam can receive a full scholarship. Achi's father was one such attendee.
Immersed as he was in his research, he had never imagined he'd become a target. The kidnappers had used that artlessness to catch him completely off his guard.
The assassin lifted his gun again, aiming for Achi and Hitomi.
If he'd only had Hitomi to protect, Achi might have been able to pick her up and get away. But he couldn't just leave her sister here.
He knew, with a certainty of despair, that he could never save them both.
“Recording a conversation without consent is a pretty serious crime!” the other man railed. “Not cracking down on that — THAT'S dereliction of duty!”
“Sir, please!”
“You know what? Fine. I'll find the bug myself!”
“Sir, PLEASE!”
After gorging herself on snacks, Hana fell asleep on the sofa, looking well and truly satisfied.
“You know, Minorikawa, Hana's happiness means more to me than my lofty artistic ideals ever could.”
Toyama kept his voice low as he regarded his daughter's sleeping face.
He had first witnessed Tateno's brilliance during a standoff three years earlier. A man had shut himself in an office, threatening to set the place ablaze. Tateno unflinchingly doused himself with gasoline and strode into the building, where he managed to talk the man down.
Sasayama's wife answered in her gentle, quavering voice.
“Thank you so much for your concern. I'm glad that my husband is lucky enough to have a colleague like you.”
No. 41 - The Threat of 'A'
When he heard that he was the kidnappers' target, the stricken Osawa decided to commit suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills. This is all because of what Kano said to him. A simple error in word choice led Osawa to a completely wrong conclusion.
“Sasayama, what's going on?”
“That's an excellent question,” Sasayama replied. “This guy just came at me out of nowhere.”
He sounded pretty riled up.
“Sir, I need you to return this costume! My boss was very insistent on that point!”
It was April 22. Osawa had just returned from the United States the day before. He was in the midst of some routine work at the general research lab when his cell phone rang.
The LCD display showed an unlisted caller. With some hesitation, Osawa picked up.
Instead, he was overcome with the feeling that this room, which for years had been his sanctuary, had ceased to be his own. It was as if something OTHER had intruded and laid claim to his personal space.