The Boy With The Blank Stare: Future

Chapter Twenty: In A Blink Of An Eye

Saihara's POV:

I sipped on some black coffee, I had gotten significant progress the past few days. So far at least six schools across the country were being investigated for cases similar to Ouma, half a dozen people for each of those came forward with their testimonies and at least two arrests of faculty who cooperated with the crimes. So far one of those arrested refused to give more information on who had paid them off, the other was given a lighter sentence in return for information. Yet the information given was bare-bones despite their insistence that was all they knew. 

The alarmingly high number though...the media was having a field day with the reveals. Harukawa even told me that back at school there were some online forums dedicated to theorizing what exactly was happening. Along with how the school atmosphere had changed, people were going in pairs to school, and those were the few who still went. Parents had already begun connecting the dots between what had happened to DICE along with the now heavily publicized events from the other schools and began taking their children out of the school, she even said that the school seemed to have two dozen students at most on good days.

Even though the element of surprise was gone, I wasn't disappointed with the public learning this information. It might give survivors the courage to come out and tell their own stories, or in other cases long forgotten to finally see the light of day and revisited, even if it turned out like three others to be exactly as it was originally recorded as it still left hope for the rest that the truth could and would come out.

With one notable exception.

Ouma's school, its investigation wasn't purposefully misleading anymore or withhold by my Uncle, he had been demoted by my father and that entire department was being interrogated for involvement and for withholding the truth. Many of the officers had been arrested on accounts of corruption, and while my Uncle wasn't one of them it didn't bring me comfort. Just unease, a sort of anxiousness in waiting for the day where I would have to see my Uncle in handcuffs.

I glanced back at my phone, waiting for Harukawa to get back to me. We were starting the process of getting witness testimonies from her and Momota, but we kept having to stall due to Momota having some blood clotting near his lungs and other health problems. It was so severe that Momota was now on the brink of death, constantly under heavy medication that I knew even if we managed to ween him off it to make him more lucid for such a procedure he would likely be in agony, but wouldn't say anything for Ouma's sake. I couldn't do that to Momota, he deserved better, and whatever peace he could find left.

Apparently, it wasn't the first time though that he had such a serious medical problem, he had been having problems since I left to the point Harukawa often had to abandon everything in case that was the day...the day the stars gained a new member.

The future without him seemed bleak, even if I knew him for such a short period of time.

Still...I finished my meager breakfast as I got up and made sure I had all the necessary paperwork and the address. Legally, I shouldn't have this address, it could, by all means, throw a monkey wrench into everything I had been working towards, or jeopardize my career as a detective. But...I needed to know, I needed to know where Ouma was staying all this time. It had been over eight months since I had last seen him, and Harukawa even admitted no one had heard from him since he left to move into his grandmother's house.

So even if it broke protocol, and even if Ouma couldn't find it in himself to forgive me for how I had abandoned him, even if his silence meant there was no danger I had to see it for myself with my own two eyes. That he was at least alive, and doing ok, or as best as it got for now. Today was the day I would finally see Ouma again, even if he was angry at me...well I would deserve it for abandoning him in such a desperate moment. For just a confirmation, I would bear any punishment or rage he fired at me.