B.A.D.

I followed her into a room, and compared to the state of the kitchen I saw along the way, this one was much better.  It"s likely Kazue uses this room as her living quarters. But due to this, I also felt a gnawing bone-chilling atmosphere enveloping me.

There were pictures of a woman plastered all over the walls without leaving a single gap.

The smiling woman had an appearance that was somewhat similar to Kazue. But compared to the sickly pale Kazue, the woman"s smile was much more lively and her skin also had a healthy tanned glow to it. Since they look alike, this woman is probably Kazue"s sister, even the floors are covered with her photos. This made me feel as if I had walked into an illusion-like s.p.a.ce made up of a person"s face.

"Please sit down over there."

I looked towards where she was pointing and two sitting cushions were laid out. If I sat on top of that, it would be like I was sitting on her sister"s face.

Should I sit or not sit?

"May I ask what"s wrong?"

"……Oh it"s nothing, please excuse me."

With no other choice I decided to sit down and shortly afterwards Kazue also followed suit. She slowly curved her white legs and sat down with her back upright.

"I am very grateful you all were willing to accept my case."

"No, the pleasures mine. Thank you very much for entrusting your case to us. Although I don"t know how much help we can be, we will do our best."

Kazue once again smiled in an uncanny perfect manner. So far all her words up to now appeared detached from reality.
It seems as if she were hiding something underneath that paper-like skin.

I dislike this woman.

“What do you think, my sister is very beautiful isn"t she? She"s perfect."

Suddenly, her words became incoherent. Kazue shifted her gaze towards the photos and nodded her head with an innocent child-like smile. This was the first time she revealed such an expression and I really wanted to disregard this random interjection.

"Although this might make you recall unpleasant feelings, it"s a crucial piece of information for our investigation. So if possible, can you tell me more regarding the situation surrounding your sister?"

After giving a cough, Kazue looked at me in confusion.

"……What did you want to ask?"

What I want to ask? Isn"t it obvious?

"That……I am very sorry……what did you mean by situation?"

"The time when your sister committed suicide, could you tell me more about it?"

Kazue blinked dejectedly and sat straight.

"What I told you before was already everything. My sister committing suicide doesn"t matter to me, the issue lies in the fact that my sister didn"t die. My sister didn"t die but her body disappeared and is now once again attempting suicide in a twisted manner. Since my sister wasn"t able to successfully pa.s.s on, I now bear the responsibility of killing her. This is something only I can do since I love my sister more than anyone else. The case I asked you all to handle was to find my sister"s "actual body" before the rest of her body drops down. Please find my missing sister"s body at all cost. After that, I will be able to kill that body."

Isn"t this essentially just more work for you? I wanted to say this as Kazue grimaced.

She"s crazy.
I felt like a switch inside my body had been turned on releasing my stress.
For whatever reason, I had a huge urge to smoke but I clenched my fist and suppressed my impulse. I ignored the rationality of the dialogue and tried focusing my attention on the contents.

Her near-dead sister had disappeared and was reattempting a twisted sort of suicide. She wanted us to find her sister"s actual body before all her organs were dropped down. Since the investigation target for this time didn"t simple disappear ordinarily, there was apparently no reason to investigate the matters surrounding her relationships and suicide motives.
It’s justifiable and the reason makes sense.
But it’s also perplexing due to that reason.

"Two questions, may I ask them?"

"…….Please ask."

"First, your sister committed suicide. However, your sister’s body then disappeared from the hospital, and is now once again reattempting suicide in the same manner, correct?”

"Correct."

"Understood, but why is your sister intentionally doing something like this? She was already nearly dead, so wouldn"t it have been better to just await death in the ward she was in?"

Her missing body wanted to commit suicide piece by piece in the same manner.
What had caused such a twisted situation?

After I asked her why, Kazue gave a sigh. A blank expression appeared on her face. I felt a sense of incongruity in her actions and just when I was about to ask, a peaceful smile once again appeared on Kazue"s face.

"Who knows? What my sister was thinking has absolutely nothing to do with me. I only have to grant death to my sister who failed to die."

She said these chilling lines without a trace of hesitation. This woman is really crazy, I was sure of that much.

"In that case, I"ll ask the second question."

"……Alright."

"Your sister"s body is dropping down from the abandoned building piece by piece, and currently all the organs that have dropped down are in the custody of the police. If it"s like that, then when her "actually body" drops down it should be completely empty inside right? That thing—–excuse me, would essentially already be dead. Moreover, her body will definitely land on the ground so there really isn"t any need for you to go out of your way to find and kill her. Because by the time you do find her she would long be dead already.”

“……”

"There is really no need to find her. But if it was something like wanting to give your departed sister a proper burial then it"s understandable."

After I said this, Kazue gave a sad smile. The corners of her mouth twisted greatly. It was an expression that knew how much influence she could deal on the other.

"……It seems you don"t understand."

Her response was exactly what I thought it would be. Her downcast eyes began glistening with tears.

"My sister didn"t die but she still wanted to commit suicide nevertheless, it"s just something I can"t accept."

In an instant, tears flowed forth from her eyes and began streaming down her face. Even an actor wouldn"t have cried so realistically. The sight of her tightly gripping the hem of her dress was enough to make anyone feel sad.

"If it"s like this, shouldn"t I try to kill her before she can fully commit suicide?"

Her smile had become warped. It was truly unbelievable.

"Understood, I"ll stop the inquires here. I"m sorry for taking up so much of your time."

After bowing my head, I secretly glanced towards Kazue. The tears in her eyes had already disappeared. She was definitely hiding something.
Just how much of the information I obtained are lies?

It seems figuring this point out will be of critical importance.