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'Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely'
— Lord Acton

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"I can't believe you killed the Kitoshi's."

"Hmm, but it was fun," a voice purred, a smirk plastered on their face in amusement. They threw the metallic device they were tweaking on in the air, laughing wickedly. "The people that squirm are always the funnest to kill."

The female with him frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "The survivors could come after you, you know."

"But they won't."

She knitted her eyebrows together. "What makes you say that?"

The shady figure's smirk broadened as they continued to work on their newest device. "You know that guy; the top of the family: Shin Kitoshi. When I went inside, he was a real joke. He pissed his pants right in front of me and begged me not to kill him. So do you know what I told him?"

A sadistic chuckle escaped his/her mouth, and they turned their head to face the female. Their eyes were filled with malice— an emotion that suited them well.

"'Break your arm if you want to save your power.' And guess what? He actually did it! I then told him to kill the person most important in his life; his wife. Promised I would set him free as a result."

He chuckled at the memory.

"He mutilated her without hesitating. Hilarious, right?"

The female resisted the nausea that grew along with the bile in her throat, and the male/female laughed at her reaction.

"Oh, c'mon. People like that are what make up the scum in society. Power is what corrupts people. Therefore, if it's not used right, it's best to get rid of the source of that power altogether. Don't you agree?"

"Yes... but there has to be a limit," the girl choked out through her fear.

"Limits, like rules, are futile. I thought you already knew that?"

Knowing she spoke too much, she directed her gaze to her shoes. "S-sorry."

Humming and tightening the bolt with a wrench, they asked, "Say, do you know what makes a king?"

"Uh..." She was at a loss for words.

Chuckling, the mastermind held up the wrench.

"The answer is power." He/She continued to work. "Power is what makes the world go round. Wherever you are, somebody is sure to have the most power. And in this city, that power was the Kitoshi's." He/She frowned at the result of the contraption before starting on it again. "Although I say that, there's two distinct types. If the people loved a king, that'd mean he worked for the sake of the people and never abused his power. But if given to one obsessed with their status in society, that's when they'll believe themselves to be king, and thereby manipulate others' goodwill.

"What's the difference between a king, and a believe-to-be king, that's easy." He/She closed their eyes, murmuring to themselves as they always did. It was a habit. "The Prime Minister and the Kitoshi's. Which would work for the sake of the city? That's the PM, right? And that's what makes them the king that'd go under the first power. But the Kitoshi's aren't the PM so they don't have to work for the people. But they still had power over everyone and everything. They had the second category of power; the power that drives one crazy.

"The more power you have, the more you take advantage of it. And once you believe you have control over everything, that's when the country truly begins falling. And everyone knows that a revered king is the one most detested by the people." Standing up to their feet, he/she approached the female. "Oh, but that's not why I wanted to kill them. They weren't necessary anymore after they got Izumi Shinzo out of the way. And with their family as it is now, I know they won't try getting revenge against me. I'll leave it to the other families that hated them till now to get rid of the rest of them."

Extending an odd contraption to the female, the figure's smile was filled with evil. She gulped down her uneasiness at the sight of it.

"It's about time my next piece begins to move. Would you mind doing it for me?"

☻☺☻

"Sorry for gathering you all on such short notice." Ayame narrowed her eyes at the group of seven seated before her. "But we need to talk."

Mayumi Hiruko fidgeted in her seat, biting her thumbnail in frenzy. She always felt so anxious in this clubroom so she hoped she wouldn't have to return, yet here she was. Similarly, Atsushi wore an expression of the same caliber, avoiding to look at anyone else around him and sticking his gaze to the ground.

They both were aware that the reason they were brought together here was related to all the occurrences that have been happening around them lately.

On the other hand, Katsura Inohara had her arms folded across her chest, her countenance stoic and hard to read. Juzo was barely managing to stay awake like he always was while Haru was snacking and rocking back and forth in his chair as usual.

The rest of the members of the CRF gathered were wearing serious expression, Kazuma's words still ringing in their ears from the other day.

"Just like Chiaki Asahina and Iori Yutaka, there may even still be traitors amongst you now."

Ryuu Sasahara clenched his teeth, recalling what he had saw on the news yesterday. Not seeing her presence in the room today just proved to him how it was true.

Akira really was...

Ayame exhaled loudly, pulling a strand of hair behind her ear. "Stress. Dejection. Despair. As we diverge even deeper into these events, it proves to us just how weak we are. How fickle it is to lose hope. How death has become a repeating thing..." Ayame's eyes reflected a saddened emotion. "How easy we are losing everything around us.

"Izumi Shinzo passed away a few weeks ago... and just yesterday," she said, shutting her eyes tight, "Akira Minamoto committed suicide."

Hearing the loud gasp from Katsura, Haru and Mayumi's mouth pained Yasuo and Ryuu.

"It's my fault," Yasuo muttered, clenching his fists in regret. "It was obvious we were breaking her with all the revelations one after another. We didn't stop to—"

"It's not your fault, Ishikawa," Ayame cut him off, frowning. Yasuo's gaze shot toward the female. "Minamoto just wasn't strong enough."

Her words snapped something within the blond and he sprung to his feet. Anger boiled inside of him, his gaze brimming with animosity. "Kobayashi... You bitch."

"Ishikawa, it's a fact."

Ayame's voice never wavered, nor did her expression. She was as impassive as she always was. As stuck as she always was.

"Not everyone is strong, I know that. People cave easier than others. But even then, they should still move forward," Ayame continued coldly. "Minamoto gave up. She couldn't take it anymore and she up went and killed herself. She didn't want to continue with these events anymore. She didn't want to involve herself in this case any longer. She ran away..." Ayame narrowed her eyes into a glare. "That's... what I think."

Ryuu lurched to upright, slamming his fists onto the tabletop. "So what?" he shouted. "I want to run away too! I want to get the hell out of here and away from all of you— this club!" Tears burned in his eyes. "Why us? Why the hell do we have to play this game? Why does everyone around us have to keep on dying?!"

Ryuu's shouts caught everyone around him by surprise but he paid no attention to them. He slammed his fists once more.

"Minamoto—"

"I said this before, right?" Ayame stated, lightening her gaze. "That I would stop this case and bring a stop to the mastermind. To do that, I know I can't be defeated here. I know I have to keep on going for the ones we lost. Sasahara, you want closure don't you?"

He went mute.

Ayame closed her eyes. "You want to get back at the mastermind, correct? Then, if you run away now and kill even yourself, how will you avenge Saya Asahina?"

Ryuu's eyelids sprung up as Ayame's calculating eyes bore into his soul.

"Minamoto didn't want to do that. That's the meaning of "running away" that I said. That's all I meant to it."

Turning her attention away from the brunet, Ayame faced the three members she hadn't laid eyes on in a long while—Mayumi, Atsushi, and Katsura—and they were still slightly fazed by the yelling just seconds before. Her gaze darkened at Juzo but before he could notice, she sighed.

"To be honest, everything that has been happening lately has been hectic," she murmured, her eyes meeting all theirs. "And we called you four here to ask where have you been these past two weeks. We wanted to inform you someone here may be a—"

"Traitor," Yasuo interrupted her, narrowing his eyes into a scowl and flopping into his seat. Although he was trying to cooperate, his scowl that was directed Ayame's way never vanished.

"Tr-traitor?" Atsushi stammered, his blood red eyes as wide as saucers.

Mayumi flinched. "U-u-us?"

"One of you is," Ryuu said, biting his lip and holding out a finger to them all. He didn't want to admit it, but he knew Ayame was right. Just like she always was. "None of you were here this past week or so, so that has to be the case!"

"I-I-I-It wasn't me!" stuttered Mayumi, trembling.

"Then who is it?!" Ryuu's voice was fierce, his brown eyes narrowed and serious.

Mayumi trembled violently. "H-h-how would I kn-know!"

Haru tilted his head to the side at their argument. Hadn't this happened one time before? That day... when they were throwing accusations back and forth; right after Moriko Kitoshi got kidnapped...

"Sasahara." Ryuu grimaced at Ayame's tone of voice. "It's too early to jump to assumptions. We didn't assemble everyone here to accuse them. We did it to get answers."

"Answers for what?" Katsura pondered aloud.

She was oddly calm, unlike the two messes beside her. Mayumi aside, Atsushi was acting differently today. His fidgety behaviour, and also obliviousness to everything going on around him was proof of that.

Ayame's gaze fell upon the brown-haired female and she held out a hand. "What exactly you did or what happened to you during the time frame you weren't with us all." Her lips tugged upwards in amusement. "If I didn't know any better, it seems like something has happened, with all of you."

Juzo rose his head, snapping into focus for the first time since they gathered. Atsushi was shuddering along with Mayumi, both dreading the thought of being asked that question next.

Katsura closed her eyes begrudgingly. "I have nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing occurred this past week. I was simply at home with my family."

The door to the clubroom swung open, jolting the eight members gathered. His hair, clothes, and bag were all over the place—as if he had tossed them on without a care in the world. It was easy to infer he was eavesdropping on their conversation; had been for a while. Even still, the sight of him left everyone speechless.

"Tadashi..." Ryuu mumbled, jaw-dropped.

Haru's face brightened, in contrast to Ryuu's reaction completely. "Tadashinn! You're here!"

Tadashi spared them all a weak smile as he closed the door behind him.

Ayame frowned at him at first but then cracked a small smile as well. "What took you so long, Matsumoto?"

He awkwardly bobbed his head up and down. "Sorry, ha ha."

The group of teens were glad to have him back. Without Tadashi, pulling through this occurrence was harder than before. He merely had that hopeful vibe to him which constantly rubbed off on everyone around him.

With him, it felt as if solving the never-ending mysteries in their path would become a lot easier.

As if to replenish himself from the weeks of his absence to this crime-festive monstrosity, raising his head, Tadashi's pale green eyes directed themselves onto a composed Katsura. She knitted her eyebrows together, already getting a feeling of what was happening. She knew what he was going to ask her.

"Inohara... you are hiding something, aren't you?" Tadashi's voice was strong and posed, something everyone in the room missed dearly. "Would you mind telling us? About your relationship with the Kitoshi's."