Your Protector

Chapter 31

The day after Budo's arrest, more students were brought in for questioning. After Budo's nonstop accusation that he was set up by Ayato Aishi, the police finally brought the boy in for his side of the story.

Ayato expected this, so he was locked and loaded with his most convincing act.

"I never used a kitchen knife to open the box. That'd be redundant, since there was a box cutter in the classroom."

The detective nodded. "Which we found had your fingerprints on it," he added.

"Exactly," Ayato said. "I don't know what story Masuta-San is telling you, but it's not true. Oh God..." he gasped with realization.

The detective raised a brow. "What?"

"This must be his revenge. He killed Ronshaku-San because of the photos on Facebook ruining his reputation, and I..." he covered his mouth for a more convincing performance. "I ran my mouth to another student about... about him in town with Yamada-San."

"Are you referring to that post by Gurin-San?"

"Yes," Ayato nodded. "Yamada-San explained everything to me and cleared things up, but by then, it was too late. I only worsened Masuta-San's reputation and drove him to kill," his voice cracked, he was clutching his button-up shirt.

"You cannot blame yourself for this, Aishi-San. Killing Ronshaku-San was all Masuta-San's choice, not yours," said the detective, pitying the boy.

"But if I hadn't added more fuel to the fire, then this probably wouldn't have happened." Ayato cursed himself under his breath.

"You were only doing what you thought was right," the detective sighed. "Don't worry, we're going to get to the bottom of what happened and why it happened." He gave Ayato a small, confident smile.

"Am I free to go now?" Ayato asked.

"Yes, you may leave," the detective nodded.

Ayato stood up from his chair and respectfully bowed to the detective, before leaving the interrogation room.

From the observation room, the chief and the young officer had been watching Ayato closely.

"There's something about that guy that I don't trust," the young officer said to his boss.

The chief stared off into nothing as he stroked his goatee. "I hear you, but there is nothing linking him to the crime. It's hard to say who is telling the truth."

The young officer frowned. "Chief, I saw Masuta-San when I entered Akademi, he was with Yamada-San."

"And?"

He bit his lip at the memory. "Well... the look of confusion and fear in his eyes looked genuine. He really looked like he had no idea why we were there."

The chief sighed. "There are good actors out there, Kazama-San. Don't let Masuta-San trick you so easily."

"I know, but... when I hear Masuta-San's story, it feels true. But when I hear Aishi-San's story... I don't know, I just..." He struggled to say what he meant—because it sounded better in his head than it did out loud. "I don't have a good feeling that he's telling the truth," was all he could say.

"Well he is the son of Ryoba Aishi. This isn't the first time an Aishi has been accused of murder, but his mother was proven innocent."

The officer raised a brow. "You think it's the same here?" he asked.

The chief wished he had the right answer; he wished he had it more than anything. "It is convenient that history seems to be repeating itself... but I can't jump to conclusions. We need more evidence against Aishi-San if we are to believe he is actually the murderer, instead of just going by our gut. Right now, all evidence points to Masuta-San."