After confirming there were no further threats, Ritsu jumped down from the tree and headed toward the villa.
By the time he reached the third floor, he hadn't even had the chance to properly look at the face that was identical to his own from years ago before Jinpei's furious roar rang through the room.
"I'm talking to you! Why does your face look exactly like his, huh?! Answer me!!"
Sure enough, whenever something truly mattered to him, Jinpei still reverted to the hot-headed young man he had been at the Police Academy.
Though he had matured considerably.
At the very least, he hadn't stormed over and kicked the criminal wearing Ritsu's face.
...Most likely because he couldn't bring himself to strike that face.
The fake merely sneered.
"Heh. Weren't you all outstanding Police Academy graduates? Weren't you brilliant when solving cases back then? Or have you already forgotten I exist?"
"My grave was empty, so why won't you accept that I'm still alive?"
Rei struggled to suppress the rage surging inside him.
His violet-gray eyes burned with fury.
The fact that this criminal could say something like that meant only one thing, he had dug up Ritsu's grave.
The memory of the young man whose heartbeat had stopped in his arms two years ago.
The gradually cooling body...
It was too much.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Rei strode forward and drove a powerful punch straight into the man's face.
The impact was so great that both the criminal and the wooden chair he was tied to toppled onto the floor.
"Zero!"
Hiro immediately stopped him, grabbing his childhood friend's elbow. Doing his best to remain calm, he said in a low voice,
"You should leave. We'll handle the rest."
Rei knew his current identity made it inappropriate for him to stay.
After shooting the criminal one last murderous glare, he turned and walked toward the exit. It was during that brief turn that he caught a glimpse of something unexpected.
A trace of loneliness... in Onizawa's eyes.
'Why would he look like that? Could his identity really... be suspicious?'
Quietly, Ritsu slipped his tightly clenched left hand into his pocket. Walking forward, he addressed the prisoner.
"You've clearly read through quite a few case files. Your appearance has changed, but your voice hasn't."
"You're Kuriyama Kōichirō. The landlord who disappeared shortly after the Sotomori Hajime case."
Hearing his own name spoken aloud after so many years, Kuriyama slowly lifted his head toward Onizawa.
"Heh. I should've killed you back then. As expected of the MPD's genius detective, you're just as much of a nuisance as ever."
"Kuriyama Kōichirō?"
Hiro frowned.
"Who is that?"
Ritsu explained,
"He was the landlord who rented the storefront to Sotomori Hajime. After it was rented to a murderer and later destroyed in an explosion, no one was willing to lease the property anymore."
"Rent was his primary source of income. I imagine his life gradually fell apart, so he ended up blaming the officers who solved the case."
Kenji glanced at Onizawa in surprise.
'He actually investigated cases from our Police Academy days? How did he even manage that? Are his deductive abilities really that extraordinary?'
Kuriyama's face twisted grotesquely.
His hoarse voice erupted from deep within his throat.
"What the hell do you self-righteous bastards know?! You'll never understand! Ayaka had already accepted my proposal!"
"It was because of you that I couldn't afford our wedding! That's why she left me! You destroyed my happiness!!"
Jinpei actually laughed from sheer disbelief.
"Are you insane? You lost your rental income, so why didn't you just get a job? It's not like you lost your arms or legs."
"But somehow you had money to get plastic surgery? I think the real thing that's broken is your brain."
Wataru's expression turned cold.
"The money for your surgery probably didn't come from any legal source either. If you'd just found an honest job, your fiancée probably wouldn't have left you."
"Instead of reflecting on your own failures, you chose to direct your hatred toward innocent people. A piece of trash like you doesn't deserve happiness."
"Hahahahaha! Happiness? I lost that seven years ago! But all of you still have yours... so I'm taking it away!"
"Hahahahaha! I'm taking all of it!!"
Ritsu's expression changed instantly.
He realized the madman's words might not be empty threats. He hadn't killed them immediately because he wanted everyone gathered here first.
Which meant, there had to be bombs planted somewhere inconspicuous.
Lowering his gaze to his wristwatch, he checked the time.
4:29 PM.
His heart sank.
That was the exact time Sotomori had set his bomb to explode years ago.
There was only one minute left.
"Run! The bomb goes off in one minute!"
"What?!"
Although everyone wondered how Onizawa could possibly know the exact detonation time, they chose to trust him without hesitation.
Jinpei and Wataru supported the injured Kenji and sprinted toward the window.
A third-floor jump posed no problem for their physical abilities. Standing on the windowsill, Wataru turned back toward the two men who still hadn't moved.
"You two, get out of there! What are you still doing?!"
Hiro restrained the frantically struggling Kuriyama with both hands. Looking at Wataru, he smiled.
"Just like back then... I'm counting on you."
'Just like back then?'
The three men immediately recalled seven years earlier.
When Hiro had run into the burning building to save Sotomori. Without doubting the abilities of the two men behind them, they jumped from the third floor.
The moment they landed, they stripped off their jackets. The sleeves of all three jackets were quickly tied together. Pulling them tight, they stretched them into a makeshift net.
Just like they had done that day.
"Let me go!!!"
"Got it undone?"
"Done!"
"Run!"
Ritsu and Hiro restrained the struggling Kuriyama together.
The instant the explosion erupted—
The shockwave hurled all three of them out the shattered window. They crashed directly into the tightly stretched "net" supported by their three friends below.
Just like the Onizuka Class banner that had once read,
—"May the cherry blossoms bloom forever, never to wither."
It represented the trust they shared.
Their seamless teamwork.
And a friendship that would never fade.
"Move! There's going to be a second explosion!"
Purple-red smoke billowed into the sky after the blast. Fortunately, the new type of bomb wasn't especially powerful.
Otherwise, none of them would have survived.
Ritsu wiped the soot from his glasses before staggering to his feet. His eyes landed on Kuriyama, who was still struggling and screaming nonstop.
Especially seeing the man twist his own face into such a hideous expression, it was infuriating.
His tongue pressed against the back of his teeth.
Without another word, Ritsu raised his right hand.
Thunk.
A perfectly executed knife-hand strike landed cleanly on the back of Kuriyama's neck. The noisy madman finally fell silent.
Watching the blow, Wataru couldn't help laughing.
"That was pretty brutal. I think I actually heard his bones crack. ...You didn't kill him, did you?"
"Date-san, I'm not joking around."
Ritsu sighed helplessly.
"I know exactly how much force to use."
Looking down at his soot-covered clothes, he deliberately complained to avoid drawing suspicion.
"Akemi had just ironed these for me, and now they've ended up like this."
Kenji grinned.
"Come on now. Showing off your married life at a time like this? There are three single guys standing right here!"
"Especially Mr. Curly Hair over there. He's insanely jealous of people who have girlfr—Ow!"
"Jin! What was that for?! I'm injured!"
Jinpei rolled his eyes.
"I've never seen a wounded patient who talks as much as you."
Turning to Hiro, he said,
"Hiro, hurry up and call the fire department. If we don't, this explosion's going to start a massive forest fire."
"Right."
Hiro smiled.
"And we'd better call an ambulance too. For this patient who clearly has far too much energy to keep talking."
As Jinpei started walking toward the edge of the forest, he suddenly remembered something.
Turning around, he looked at Kuriyama, who was currently being dragged across the ground by Ritsu.
Raising an eyebrow, he asked,
"Hey. Should we all chip in and pay to have that guy's face changed back? Looking at him like that really pisses me off."
Wataru burst out laughing.
He raised his hand in agreement.
"I vote yes."
"Seconded!"
"I think that's an excellent suggestion."
"I agree too."
Ritsu blinked twice before glancing down at Kuriyama, whom he was dragging along the ground. Looking at that face, he silently added in his heart:
'I agree with both hands... and both feet.'
----
This chapter is epic!!