"Akikawa, I'll accompany you inside."
At the entrance to the washroom, the Detective, who was disguised as a nurse, said this to Akikawa Sosuke.
"Thank you, I can manage on my own."
"Alright, I'll wait at the door then. Just call me if you need anything."
Even though Akikawa Sosuke politely declined, the Detective's face showed no sign of displeasure.
He truly looked like a nurse who cared for patients and had excellent service attitude.
At the end of the washroom's sink area, there was a window that a slender adult or a child could probably squeeze through.
The other side of the window was already dawn.
Under the faint morning light, there were practically no pedestrians, only the chirping of birds signaling the start of a new day.
As it was still early, there was no one else in the washroom.
Akikawa Sosuke walked to the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
It was only then that he finally saw his body after transmigrating for the first time.
Standing in the world on the other side of the mirror was a pale, lifeless-looking young man.
With a body thinner than average, combined with bandages on his head, a hospital gown, and an IV stand with a tube still connected to his hand,
He looked like a patient who had lived in the hospital for years, despite having just been admitted.
"This is even weaker than I imagined. This body feels like a withered branch; it would snap with a light step."
Surprisingly, however, the young man in the mirror had very well-defined facial features.
This couldn't help but make Akikawa Sosuke sigh in his heart,
For those with good facial proportions, even with their head wrapped in bandages and their hair unseen, and their body so frail, their appearance was still pleasing to the eye.
Akikawa Sosuke came to the washroom, of course, not just to use the toilet.
Even though the means of obtaining information were scarce at the moment,
Just by observing himself, he could glean some basic information about himself.
Akikawa Sosuke noticed that not only his cheeks, but also his palms and neck, were an unhealthy white.
These areas of skin, even those frequently exposed, were paler than average. Besides a pathological reason, there was another possibility—
"A shut-in who rarely sees the sun."
Akikawa Sosuke pulled up his sleeves and trouser legs, lightly pinching the muscles of his arms and legs.
The flaccid muscles further proved that Akikawa Sosuke's deduction was correct.
"My skin is also somewhat dry and rough, and there's some dullness around my eyes. It's not from staying up late; it's more like anemia caused by malnutrition."
"He should be in school, but he hasn't gone to school at all."
"He has the ability to take care of himself, but he's suffering from severe malnutrition."
"If he lives alone, this situation is likely due to a setback, leading to self-abandonment. If he lives with others, it's either overprotection or abuse."
Akikawa Sosuke reached out and touched the hair at the back of his neck, then made a judgment.
"It's the latter."
The length of his hair was clearly not that of a long-term shut-in (NEET); it had obviously been trimmed.
Akikawa Sosuke couldn't feel the original owner's will to live at all, yet his hair was being normally maintained.
If he truly cared about his appearance, he wouldn't let his physical condition deteriorate to this extent.
So, it could only be that someone else was doing these things for the original owner.
Looking at his own appearance in the mirror, which showed lack of exercise and malnutrition,
And considering the information revealed by the Detective who helped him in earlier,
The scales in Akikawa Sosuke's mind also tipped towards the side containing "abuse."
"Assuming the original owner was indeed abused, then the woman who was in the same car with him should be the person he lived with."
"This is a bit bad. The original owner seems to have a strong motive for murder…"
Akikawa Sosuke quickly unbuttoned his hospital gown and carefully examined his frail body.
However, after meticulously checking his upper and lower body, besides the new bruises likely from the car accident, Akikawa Sosuke found no old scars on his body.
"No external injuries doesn't mean there was no abuse."
"Also, in this situation, the police concluded that the original owner had suicidal tendencies, which means this was discovered last night after I was sent to the hospital for examination."
In other words, something within his body revealed this.
"Was it that certain substances were detected in my body? Poison? Sleeping pills?"
"But no matter which one, this couldn't have been an impulse; the original owner must have prepared it beforehand."
"So the question is, did the original owner commit suicide before or after the woman died?"
"Speaking of which, the original owner has blue eyes, and his hair color isn't the traditional Japanese black, but chestnut."
Besides his well-defined features, even when thin, what else particularly caught attention were the protagonist's sky-blue eyes, like the night sky.
And just now, when Akikawa Sosuke was examining his body, he also noticed that not only his hair, but also the body hair on other parts of his body was chestnut-colored.
This indicated it wasn't dyed hair, but natural.
"Is he mixed-race?"
Just as Akikawa Sosuke continued to examine his body, wanting to see if there were any other details he hadn't noticed,
He suddenly caught a glimpse in the mirror's reflection of the washroom door being quietly pulled open.
"Even using the toilet requires surveillance. Sure enough, the police are convinced the original owner had suicidal tendencies."
His clothes had been changed, so he definitely wouldn't have any tools on him that could cause injury.
Furthermore, there was no one else in the washroom, so there was no risk of him harming others.
Therefore, the police monitoring him must be to prevent him from attempting suicide again.
"Since the police are monitoring me, it also means that the original owner's suicidal act happened after the woman he lived with died."
"Because only in this situation could 'I' attempt the same act again after realizing I didn't die."
"Did the original owner, due to long-term abuse, specifically choose this day of going out together to kill the woman and then commit suicide?"
"Isn't that murder? It seems the police have already made the same judgment."
Akikawa Sosuke rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.
Japan is not a country where one can easily be sentenced to death.
Even heinous criminals who have killed many people often find it difficult to be sentenced to death.
However, impulsive murder and premeditated murder have fundamental differences in sentencing standards.
Clearly, the latter is more serious.
Akikawa Sosuke always hoped to find some clues to prove he wasn't the murderer and reduce his suspicion.
But the more he understood the situation, the more he realized how deeply he was implicated.