[Mini series] A game you cannot win 6 (FINAL)
Title: A game you cannot win
Author: tsuchi8562
Beta: syunikiss1990
Pairing: Katayama Yoshitaro/Yoshimoto Kouya (Sakuraiba)
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the school. The school is mine
Summary: A young girl dies in Chihara High School. Was it suicide or was she pushed off the roof? A policeman starts his investigation and gets involved in a game by some strange teacher...
*MASTERPOST*
Law is wrong
These words were coming back to him every minute, with every step he made while coming back home from the forest. Yoshimoto stayed there and Katayama could hear his tearing scream but there was nothing he could do. The teacher was on his path and nobody could stop him now... Or maybe Yoshitaro can? From some reason Kouya trusted him and gave him clues... The button, the letter, the incident in sauna... All of this was a part of the game Yoshimoto played with the policeman and there has to be a reasonable motive why the tutor picked Katayama.
"Law can't be wrong, Yoshimoto-sensei..." The detective whispered to himself and looked at his own hands, clenched on the steering wheel in his car. Where should he go now? Police station is out of question, it's getting late. Ishizu? No, he will ask more questions, decide that enough is enough and go to their boss to tell everything. Home? Holmes was not there and somehow Yoshitaro didn't want to be alone now. After a longer while, he chose the only place he could at least understand the teacher - his house. Deep inside he knew it is a bad idea; he was sure that it was the time he should end this game. Right here, right now. Arrest Yoshimoto, talk with the student's parents and reveal the truth the way it should be. Legally.
The house was empty. The door was open so Katayama got inside without any troubles. All furniture, clothes and carpets disappeared and somebody put a big "for sale" sign in front of the building. All traces of Yoshimoto's presence vanished and even sauna was emptied; it was an ordinary room, with no wooden banks nor special equipment. Yoshitaro looked around, hoping he will find anything that could bring him any idea what was going on here, but he failed. More questions appeared in his mind, making him more and more confused and upset. The teacher said clearly he will punish the liars the way they deserved it. Without any doubts he meant Mizuno and Arakawa, probably few more students from Chihara High School. How will Yoshimoto punish them? Katayama didn't know; it was something that terrified him and made him sure he has to stop Kouya not paying attention to consequences.
"I knew I will find you here, detective-san..." Low, vibrating voice pierced the air in the room. The policeman was standing in the chamber that used to be a sauna and trembled, trying to keep his senses sharp.
"Game over, Yoshimoto-sensei. I know everything. You can stop now..."
"Oh no... The game is just began, detective-san. The bullying just started." The tutor smiled and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms on the chest. For longer while neither of men uttered a word, when finally Yoshitaro turned around and looked straight in the latter's eyes. He saw darkness and emptiness, something he didn't noticed before.
"It's enough. You don't have to feel pain anymore." The policeman said quicker than he could think. Why did he say it?! What on earth is he thinking? Katayama opened his mouth to take back every word that left his throat but Yoshimoto was faster.
"That's why I chose you..." Kouya closed the distance between them in two steps and pulled the latter closer. Their lips were very close to each other that Yoshitaro could feel the tutor's hot breath. "That's why I..." The teacher didn't finish and kissed the man in front of him somehow desperately and... caring? Yoshitaro very slowly returned the caress and closed his eyes, letting the latter be. Who knows, maybe this will make Yoshimoto change his mind? The teacher moved away just as if he was burned and looked at the latter with empty eyes. Without a word he ran out the house, leaving shocked policeman alone with the herd of thoughts invading his mind.
"He chose me...?" Katayama whispered, trying to understand at least a bit of what had just happened. Without a doubt Yoshimoto had a reason to become close to Yoshitaro. This reason made him lure the detective in this game. Exactly him, nobody else. "You want your game? I will give you one. But this time I will set some rules as well."
***
Katayama didn't expect anything like that. He thought, or more like hoped, that the tutor will keep playing the game, forcing Mizuno and his worshipers to confess in public to their sins. Nothing like that happened. For the next few days the policeman observed the school, teachers and students and everything seemed to be fine until... Katsuo got back to school, just as if nothing happened and moreover, he was greeted very warm by both his classmates and the staff. Nobody asked about the resignation he handed before. Because the promised five days already had passed, Ishizu told everything to their chief and Yoshimoto was accused for double murder. It was a bold move, knowing there was no hard evidence that he was guilty, but this was the only way to sent arrest warrant across the country and make sure the teacher will be caught. Yoshitaro was safe; his partner didn't tell anything about their deal. All that left was to find the tutor, make him talk and the culprits will be punished. Legally, according to the law.
Law is wrong This sentence was coming back again and again to Katayama's head. He heard it so clearly, as if Kouya was standing in front of him and screamed it right in his face. Unfortunately the teacher was nowhere to be found, hiding and probably waiting when this whole fuss will calm down or he was planning something. As far as Katayama knew the man, it was the other option. Yoshitaro didn't have to wait long before he became sure he was right. His phone was ringing like never before this morning and he felt that something wrong had to happen.
"Hello?" The policeman tried hard to stop his voice from trembling. Somewhere deep inside he hoped it was the tutor, even though he was sure his partner's name appeared on the display.
"Come to Chihara. Now. We have a situation..."
"What kind of situation, Ishizu-kun?" Katayama bit his lower lip and the seconds he had to wait for an answer seemed to be ages.
"Yoshimoto closed himself in one of the classrooms with Reiko's class and he threatens he will blow up the building if you won't come here..." Ryouhei sounded nervous. Yoshitaro took a deep breath to calm down and without wasting time for questions he drove to the school, deciding to ask about the details when he will be on the scene. A bomb? What the hell the teacher was thinking? Katayama didn't want to believe in all that, but at the same time he couldn't take any risk. The detective arrived to the school in less that twenty minutes and in no time he found his partner.
"Any news, Ishizu-kun?" Yoshitaro asked, nervously looking at the building in front of them. It was surrounded with the police cars and sappers. Somewhere on the other side of the street, Kurogawa was smoking. She was visibly upset and the policeman wondered was it because she was worried about her students or because everything will be revealed soon.
"Yoshimoto doesn't want to talk to anybody else but you. He said he won't let anybody go until you will come here. Katayama-san, I don't know what was going on between you two and practically I don't care. But I think you should have told everything to our boss earlier. Now..."
"There is nothing between us, Ishizu-kun. He just picked me for his game and if I am the only one who can play with him, I am willing to do so. I am going in."
"No way I will let you. We have snipers just waiting for the orders. One word and we will shoot him down." Ryouhei looked around and sighed. He was clearly tired and wanted to close this case, probably as much as every policeman here.
"Ishizu-kun, he didn't kill any of those girls. I know it for sure. The only reason he is doing all of this is to show how horrible bullying can really be. I am going in and will try to convince him to stop this madness and you can't do anything to stop me." Yoshitaro didn't felt so determined ever before and probably that did the trick. His partner just took a deep breath and nodded, setting some conditions.
"Okay but you we have to hear you and you will wear a bulletproof vest. And if you won't persuade him within two hours I..."
"No... Let me do it my way. Believe it or not but I know what I am doing." Katayama didn't believe in his words himself, but apparently he was a good actor because Ryouhei just nodded. However he couldn't resign from the wire and soon Yoshitaro had the bug hidden in his jacket's pocket. After consulting everything with his boss, the detective slowly entered the school and went straight to the class Yoshimoto was in. Surprisingly the building looked normal inside, just as if nothing really happened. Of course it was quite empty, normally there should be bunch of teenagers chatting and laughing here and there but the school was drowned in dead silence. Katayama stopped in front of the classroom's door and reached out his hand to press the knob, but the door was opened before he managed to do it.
"Welcome out last guest!" The teacher grinned and sat on his chair, looking at the class he gathered. All places were taken except two, Reiko's and Misaki's. What was even more surprising, the students were calm. None of the girls was crying or even sniffling, the boys seemed not to care about anything, maybe except... Mizuno was sweating and looking around as if he was searching for a way to escape. However he didn't move an inch from his seat, he was just feeling uncomfortable, just as if a person who doesn't feel good and waits for a good opportunity to ask the teacher to let him go to the nurse. The atmosphere in the classroom was way too calm as it should be. Yoshitaro came closer to the teacher and took a deep breath.
"Let those kids go. They don't deserve to be threatened and kept here like in some kind of prison..."
"You think I kidnapped them and now I am holding them here against their will? Ii nee!" Yoshimoto laughed and looked around the room. The detective's gaze followed and he saw that nobody is scared and few of students even smiled weakly. Of course Katsuo was still pale and sweaty. "You don't know a thing detective-san."
"Yoshimoto-sensei, this game just moved too far across the edge. I understand trying to make bullies confess their sins in a bit unique way but enough is enough. Let them go." The policeman tried to sound as persuasive as he could, but that didn't seem to work at all. The tutor stood up, took a chalk and with his beautiful handwriting he wrote Arita and Yamamoto's name on one side of the board and few other names, including Mizuno and Arakawa on the other. Kouya turned around and looked at the teenagers gathered in the classroom, stopping on each face for at least a second. He was ignoring Katayama, even though he was the one who invited him here.
"Tell me, what those names have in common. Except the fact they are students of the same school and even the same class..." The teacher asked, just as if he was giving a lesson and trying to figure out whether his pupils did their homework. For a longer while the silenced ruled the air, but after some time a weak voice from across the room sounded.
"They were friends... I mean in the past..." A girl, wearing glasses spoke, looking at the floor. Yoshitaro frowned, trying to grab anything what was going on here. Meanwhile the teacher clapped and grinned in some strange, insane way which made the policeman shiver.
"Good, Kohno-kun! They indeed were friends in the past... Anyone knows why?" Yoshimoto asked again, but this time nobody answered. Kouya pouted and sighed loudly, sitting on the desk this time. "Well, I know everybody knows but probably you feel uncomfortable with this guy here?" The tutor pointed on Katayama. This whole scenery looked like a regular classes, which are inspected by the principal and Yoshitaro couldn't get rid of the feeling that all of this is a stage play. Well, in a way it was...
"Yoshimoto-sensei, please end this madness... Let the kids go and tell where the bomb is... I can promise that if you will do it, I will make sure your sentence will be lower and..."
"Katayama-san, please stop your interruptions." A girl stood up and looked straight at the detective. "We are here from our free will, nobody forced us to be here. The longer will you chat, the longer the truth will be hidden."
"Ii nee Yuuki-chan! As expected from the head of kendo club!" Yoshimoto chuckled and looked at Yoshitaro. "What a subtle way of saying 'shut up', ne?"
"Reiko fell for that... creepy Arakawa... He found out and started to pretend he likes her so they all can laugh at her..." A girl named Yuuki sat back down and for a longer while stared at Mizuno. Katayama decided not to interfere, hoping that this way he will finally find out the truth he was seeking for so long.
"Yes... Any idea when and what changed?" Kouya stood up and draw a line between Arita's and Ryou's name. With passing time each student told a bit of the story revealing the puzzles. With passing time, and the more details were revealed, the more lines appeared on the board between names. It appeared that Reiko had a crush on Arakawa, but he just used her in any way he could. The girl gave him his virginity and he made pictures, spreading them around the school's internet forum. The photos disappeared quicker that they appeared but still lot of students saw them and then the bullying began. Slowly, with passing time the whole truth was revealed, about the things that were going on inside Chihara High School walls. Kurogawa knew everything about bullying but didn't do a thing, hoping everything will end by itself or Arita will change schools. The teacher wanted to give some hints to the girl's parents, so he send them a letter and hoped they will try to reveal the truth behind the note. Apparently nothing like that happened and it had to find a final in such tragic way. Kouya was the one who told about the events of the fatal night.
"Now, who will answer on this, will receive a nice prize and will be able to go home. Who was the one who pushed Reiko from the roof?" Yoshimoto asked the whole class, but his eyes were on Mizuno. Neither of students said a word, everybody was staring at Katsuo and his friend. Katayama looked at the whole scene with growing shock; he was right about the tutor's innocence but in his worst dreams he didn't think he will know the truth in that way.
"Come on, we're waiting here... Tell us who pushed her off the roof, Mizuno-kun... We all know it wasn't you... Don't you want to go home?" Yoshimoto pouted and waved his legs in the air. For the longer while the silence was filling the classroom, but then Mizuno broke, probably scared of the bomb.
"It was Arakawa..." The boy whispered, looking in the floor.
"No, no, no... Be a decent student, stand up, say your name and answer the question loudly, so the bug in detective-san's pocket can catch everything you will say." The teacher sounded scary and the student did what he was told to.
"My name is Mizuno Katsuo and the person who pushed Reiko off the roof was Arakawa Ryou." Even though he was crying, the words were clear and loud. Katayama was sure that Ishizu heard everything. Of course Arakawa yelled he had nothing to do with that but nobody listened to him. The case was closed...
***
The square in front of Chihara High School was filled with blinking lights and voices. After releasing all the students it appeared there were no explosives in the building and that was just a trick to make the police come to the school. Also, the students said it was all their idea to find a way to reveal the truth about Reiko's death. Nobody kidnapped them nor kept them against their will. I those circumstances Yoshimoto was clean and freed from all accusations.
Yoshitaro was standing somewhere on the side, trying to cool off and stay conscious, as the lack of sleep hit him. He still couldn't understand everything that had just happened, but he was sure that slowly everything will find its place in his mind.
"Don't sleep or somebody will steal you..." The low voice sounded dangerously close to his ear. Katayama jumped a bit startled and looked at Yoshimoto with curiosity filling his eyes.
"I think it was enough of crimes in this school already, Yoshimoto-sensei..."
"You didn't even know half of them, detective-san." The teacher smirked and leaned against the tree. He took a deep breath and looked around at the things that were going on. Mizuno and Arakawa were getting into the police car, their parents were arguing with policemen, some other parents were checking if their kids were okay. "Pretty much of a chaos here, ne?"
"It's always like this..." Katayama smiled weakly and sighed. Everything ended now... He wondered what will happen now; what Kouya will do and if there were any chances for them to be close again...
"I guess this is a goodbye then. I did what I had to and I can go..." Yoshimoto smiled. He was somehow different, warmer and better than before. The teacher spread a pleasant aura around him, something Yoshitaro didn't see before. It was confusing.
"Y-you won't stay here? I know that there is so much to fix in this school... The game is over, you won..."
"No, detective-san. This is a game you cannot win and will not end. I have a place I need to be now. Goodbye. It was fun." Yoshimoto bowed and disappeared somewhere in the crowd. Katayama wondered if he will ever see the man again but before he managed to got lost in thought too much a pair of cat's eyes were piercing him with the usual curiosity.