[Shinjuku, 24th August
8 AM, Morning - Kavei's House
Present: Benio, Saira, Miyasi, Kai, and Kavei]

The air in the room was heavy with the remnants of sleepless nights and unspoken worries. The faint scent of old coffee and papers lingered, mixing with the distant sounds of the city waking up outside. A soft gulp broke the silence as Miyasi hesitantly spoke.

"Are you... okay now?" Her voice wavered slightly, her fingers gripping the hem of her shirt as if grounding herself.

Kavei, who had been staring at the map on the table, shook his head before looking up at her. His expression was unreadable, his dark eyes carrying the weight of something unspoken.

"I am a detective," he said, his voice steady despite the turmoil in his chest. "No matter what happened, I shouldn't be losing myself." He exhaled through his nose, his fingers curling slightly as if trying to hold onto his resolve. "I am fine now, so don't worry."

Liar.

The pain was still there. It clawed at his chest, whispering doubts and regrets in the back of his mind. But there was no time for that. He had already decided-he would let it go. For now.

They had only a week left before the holidays ended. A week to save the ninth-grade boy with green eyes before he became the next target. A week to find the missing pieces of the puzzle and expose the one pulling the strings.

Benio, who had been watching Kavei carefully, cleared his throat before speaking.

"Kavei." His tone was firm yet cautious. "There are twenty-five boys with green eyes across all of Japan." As he spoke, he unfolded a sheet of paper and placed it over the map. The crisp rustle of paper was the only sound for a moment.

Kavei nodded, his gaze fixed on the list of names and locations, but he didn't pick up the sheet. His hands remained on the table, fingers lightly pressing against the surface. Benio observed him for a moment before pulling the paper away.

"So, what do you plan to do now?" Benio asked.

Kavei exhaled slowly, as if steadying his thoughts. He cleared his throat and adjusted the map in front of him, holding down one side with his left hand so it wouldn't fold over. Next to him, Kai instinctively reached out to hold the other side, his fingers pressing down lightly against the creases.

With his free hand, Kavei moved his index finger over the map, his touch precise as he traced a path.

"The criminal started from Yokohama," he said, tapping the name printed on the map. His voice had changed-there was a certain sharpness to it now, the kind that came with focus.

The others leaned in slightly, watching as his finger glided across the surface.

"From Yokohama, he went to Shibuya. Then from there, he traveled to Naha, the capital city of Okinawa." His finger slid southward, stopping briefly over the marked location.

A breath passed before he continued.

"From Naha, he went back to Yokohama," he said, retracing the line. "Then to Chiba... and from Chiba to Kyoto." He tapped each city name, his touch growing more deliberate.

"From Kyoto, he traveled to Nagasaki, then moved to Nagoya, and finally..." His finger came to a stop on the last destination. "Shinjuku."

Silence filled the room as everyone stared at the map, the path now clearly laid out before them. Saira furrowed her brows, her fingers pressing lightly against her lips. Miyasi shifted slightly in her seat, her gaze flickering between Kavei and the traced pattern.

"There is definitely a pattern here," Kavei said at last. His voice carried a quiet certainty, his mind working through the connections.

He reached for another rolled-up sheet beside him and unrolled it onto the table. The paper settled with a soft rustle, revealing a detailed sketch of movement lines across Japan.

"When we first started digging into this case, I tried to map out a travel pattern," he explained. His finger traced over the lines carefully, eyes scanning over the data he had compiled. "It includes Yokohama for Henta and also covers Daichi's kidnapping, which happened after Nagoya and before Shinjuku."

A heavy silence fell over them again as the weight of the realization settled in.

They weren't chasing random movements.

This was calculated. Planned.

The pattern looked odd. Like an incomplete triangle, waiting to be filled. The way the criminal moved across Japan-it wasn't random. It was methodical, deliberate. But something about it still felt... unfinished.

Benio stared at the map, his brows furrowing as he tapped a finger against his knee. His mind worked through the possibilities, piecing together what the next move could be.

"If the pattern needs to be closed, then they might go back to Naha," he mused, his voice thoughtful. He leaned forward slightly, his eyes scanning over the traced path on the map. "But if the pattern is still open, then..." He trailed off, unsure of what came next.

Kavei, who had been staring at the map with an intensity that made his exhaustion all the more visible, shook his head.

"I don't think it will close," he said, his voice firm. His eyes, still swollen from nights of restless sleep, flickered with something sharper now. Logic. Deduction. Purpose.

"They are definitely looking for something. Or someone," he continued, shifting his focus between the map and the others. "Someone who will end their kidnapping journey. That last person."

A chill settled over the group at his words.

The final target.

A moment of silence passed before Kavei reached to his side, fingers brushing over a rolled-up sheet of paper. He grabbed it, unrolling it carefully over the previous map. The paper smoothed out against the table, partially covering the lines he had drawn before.

"This," he said, tapping the newly revealed sheet, "is the person's movements, excluding Daichi's kidnapping in Yokohama."

The others leaned in, eyes scanning the new details laid out before them.

Benio narrowed his eyes at the map, tilting his head slightly. "Hm. The small triangle at the top in the beginning of the first pattern layout has become a straight line now, but all else looks the same," he noted, tracing the shape lightly with his fingers.

Kai and Miyasi leaned in closer, their eyes moving carefully over the lines and curves drawn out in front of them. The room was thick with tension, each of them trying to make sense of what they were looking at.

"Yeah," Saira suddenly piped up, pointing at the map with growing curiosity. "Doesn't this kind of look like an island shape? I mean, if you make a trip from Nagasaki to Naha, then it completely forms a four-sided figure. That would look like an island, huh?"

Silence.

All eyes snapped to her.

Saira froze under their intense stares. "Wh-what? Did I say something weird?" she stammered, raising her hands in mock surrender.

Kai exchanged a glance with Kavei, and for the first time that morning, a spark of something flickered between them. Kavei immediately moved all the charts away from the table revealing the map of Japan underneath.

"Honshu," Kavei murmured, his gaze locked onto the map. "It looks like a J... or maybe a curved seahorse."

Kai nodded, picking up on the thought. "Hokkaido," he added, "looks like an upside-down dragon head."

"Kyushu," Benio said next, studying the layout. "It kind of looks like a backward 'C' or a disoriented oval."

"Shikoku," Kavei continued, fingers pressing against the region. "Looks like an irregular rectangle."

"Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands look like an arc," Miyasi concluded.

Kavei straightened, his mind racing. His voice took on the steady rhythm of analysis. "These are all the islands we have. Honshu-the main island. Hokkaido-the northern island. Kyushu-the southern island. Shikoku-the smallest of the four main islands. And then, Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands-the southernmost chain of islands. Looking at it this way, it should be Shikoku that resembles the pattern the criminal is following the most... but what would that even mean?" His brows knitted together in frustration.

Benio let out a breath, tapping his fingers against his knee. "Either way, what is the point of drawing the pattern of the criminal?" he asked, turning to Kavei.

"To learn his next move," Kavei replied without hesitation. His voice was steady, unwavering.

Miyasi's eyes flickered with interest. "And what did you figure out?" she asked.

Kavei exhaled deeply, his fingers pressing against the map. "With these two outlines," he said, tapping on the charts in front of them, "I outlined some possible locations the criminal might visit next."

With that, he reached to his side, pulling out another sheet of paper and laying it across the table. The group leaned in, watching as the new outline unfolded before them.

Benio frowned, his gaze shifting between Kavei and the map spread across the table. "But why these places?" he asked, his voice laced with curiosity and skepticism.

Kavei let out a slow breath, his fingers tapping rhythmically against the edge of the pattern outline chart. The weight of the case pressed against his temples, but his mind was sharp, focused. "Yokohama again," he said, pointing to the marked location. "Since they returned there before, they might do it again. Osaka or Hiroshima-if they keep moving west, one of these cities could be next. And Sendai-if they decide to move north like they did with Okinawa or try to confuse their tracks."

Miyasi leaned back against the couch, her arms crossed over her chest. "Ah, I see," she murmured, nodding in understanding. Her dark eyes flicked toward the map. "So the next target might be in one of these places."

Kavei pressed his lips into a thin line. "But," he continued, his voice slightly lower, "Hentai's family lives in Osaka currently."

Benio sat up straighter. "So?"

Kavei reached for another chart from the pile beside him. "So I changed the pattern route to include Osaka, and that might alter the next target city."

Benio narrowed his eyes. "What exactly did you change?"

Kavei flattened the new chart over the previous one. "Instead of going from Naha to Yokohama, I drew it as Naha to Osaka. That would mean Yokohama won't be repeated three times but only twice."

A heavy silence settled in the room as everyone examined the modified pattern.

Saira squinted at the map, tilting her head slightly as she studied the newly altered pattern. Her fingers drummed lightly against the table. "Ah, that extra line in the middle makes the pattern look complicated now," she muttered, her brows knitting together.

Miyasi leaned in closer, running a hand through her hair as she examined the new outline. "Yeah," she murmured, tracing the additional route with her fingertip. "The Naha to Osaka trip adds a line in the middle of the pattern. It's throwing off the symmetry."

Kavei sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as his eyes darted between the maps. The weight of the case pressed down on him, making every decision feel heavier. "We need to check all possibilities," he said, exhaling deeply. "But this makes it difficult to grasp what shape it's making. If there's a pattern, we need to recognize it fast."

Benio, arms crossed over his chest, leaned back slightly. "What do you think it looks like?" he asked, his gaze locked onto Kavei's.

Kavei remained silent for a moment, his eyes fixed on the intricate lines on the map. His fingers hovered over the paper, tracing the outline in his mind. Finally, he spoke. "When I first drew this, it made me think of a bird."

Benio's brow furrowed. "A bird? How?" His skepticism was evident as he leaned forward, trying to make sense of the claim. He shifted his position, looking at the pattern from different angles. Then, still unconvinced, he stood up and tilted his head, staring at it from an upside-down view. Nothing clicked. "I don't see it."

"Hm, like an open beak," Kavei clarified, pointing to a particular section of the outline.

Benio's eyes widened slightly, realization dawning upon him. He clapped his hands together as he dropped back onto the couch beside Miyasi. "Ah! I see that too now," he admitted, shaking his head in amusement. "That's weird. Now that I look at it differently, it actually does resemble an open beak."

Kavei nodded, his fingers tapping lightly on the map. "Like the black-faced spoonbill, if you can relate."

Kai, who had been quietly observing, tilted his head as he studied the outline again. "Huh. I mean, I guess... now that you say it, it does resemble that shape." He traced the lines with his finger, stopping at certain intersections. "But what are the possible next target cities with this pattern?"

"Yeah," Kavei said, his voice steady as he reached for the final piece of the puzzle. He unrolled the last chart and laid it over the existing maps, smoothing out the creases as everyone's eyes locked onto it.

Saira grabbed a pencil which was on the coffee table and tapped the eraser end of her pencil against her knee, her mind processing the possible routes laid out before them. Her voice was hesitant but searching. "Why these places?" she asked, glancing up at Kavei.

Kavei exhaled, his fingers pressing against the table as he explained. "Yokohama if they're returning to a familiar base. Fukuoka if they're moving west. Sendai if they're heading north. And Sapporo if they're making a long escape to the far north." His tone was measured, but there was an edge to it, the weight of uncertainty gnawing at the edges of his logic.

Benio, arms still folded, tapped his foot against the floor. His gaze flicked between Kavei and the scattered maps. "So is this why, when we started the fake health care program, you asked us to look into these places? To see if any students lived there?"

Kavei nodded, his expression unreadable. "Yeah," he confirmed, his fingers curling slightly against the map's surface. "From what I've seen so far, the criminal isn't following a pattern based on school targets, but rather home targets." His voice dropped slightly, as if speaking it aloud solidified the theory in his mind.

He hesitated, then continued. "Aroshi... lived in Yokohama, but our school was on the far end of the city. Hentai lived in Osaka but studied in Yokohama. Same for Daichi. What matters more isn't where the targets go to school-it's where they live."

Kai nodded slowly, processing the shift in understanding. He turned to Benio, his voice thoughtful. "The twenty-five green-eyed boys you found. Do any of them live in these places?"

Before Benio could respond, the doorbell rang.

All five of them froze. The silence that followed was thick with unspoken alarm. Kavei's eyes flickered to each of them, and they instinctively returned his glance, tension coiling in the air.

Without a word, Kai moved swiftly, rolling up the maps and charts in one fluid motion. He pushed them behind the couch cushion, his movements quick but careful. No one could ever be too cautious.

Kavei approached the door, his heartbeat steady but alert. He hooked the chain lock before cracking it open just enough to see outside. His shoulders relaxed-only slightly-when he saw who it was.

Himeko, Saira, Narito, Ojiro, Kenma, and Nana stood in a tight cluster, their faces unreadable yet filled with something akin to quiet resolve.

Kavei unlatched the chain, stepping back as they slowly filed in. Their movements were careful, as if they had all silently agreed that something about this moment was delicate.

Nana was the last to step inside. She turned, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Kenma, who had been looking down, finally lifted his gaze. His voice was quiet, but the weight of his words was heavy. "We... decided we shouldn't be leaving you alone. Not when we've already entered this mess." His eyes flickered between them, his fingers curled tightly at his sides.

No one spoke for a moment. But the unspoken understanding settled between them like a silent pact.