"Who?"

 

 

 

"MURKAI YORI! YOU RECRUTED HIM! WE HAD HIM RIGHT HERE IN THIS VERY APARTMENT!" Hachiro was screaming at the Lodge of Lonely Police Men at the top of his lungs. Everyone was staring at him like he was a madman. The only one taking him seriously was Ito.

 

"Hold on. Calm down." Ito held up his hands, "I... think I know who you are talking about. He went on vacation, he didn't dis-"

 

Hachiro emphatically slammed a folder onto the coffee table, exclaiming, "WRONG! He no longer EXISTS! Every source I checked doesn't know who this guy is at all!" He swiftly opened the folder, extracting a picture. "And you laughed at me for making a hard copy of everything." He pointed at the image, showing the room they were all presently in. In the picture, despite everyone sitting around and engaged in conversation, there was an unmistakable gap. Everyone appeared to be talking to someone who wasn't there. It was like someone photoshopped out the center of attention, "He's VANISHED!"

 

Ito took the picture and started looking at it, "Wait... what?"

 

Hachiro retrieved a notebook, stating, "Fortunately, I made a pencil sketch of everyone in my notebook, or I'd have no idea what he looked like." Flipping it open to a section labeled 'Murkai Yori' he revealed a sketch of a rather ordinary-looking guy seated on a couch. The very couch that was in this room. He proceeded to show the picture around the room, asking, "Ringing any bells?"

 

Ito abruptly grabbed the side of his head as he felt a sudden stabbing pain, "I... wait. Yes. He... Was... He called me to tell me he..." He bit his lower lip as he tried to remember, "Something? He told me something. Wait. He called me. He told me he was talking to his sister and leaving to... something? Hold on." He looked around the room, "Am I losing my mind?"

 

The rest of the lodge took the notebook and started passing it around. Jiro held on and stared rather intently, "We... knew this guy? How could we-"

 

Hachiro's voice took on a low growl as he asserted, "It was Toshi. It had to be." Growing increasingly agitated, he spoke with animated gestures, "Yori sent me an email stating he had a lead on Toshi and was going to check it out. An email that disappeared, I might add!" He smacked the back of one hand into the palm of the other. "He MUST have found something so important that Toshi made him vanish."

 

Ito started to rub his chin, "So... you are sure we knew this guy and he... was erased, including our memory?"

 

Hachiro nodded, "It took a while for me to figure out it was happening. Thank god I keep checking all my notes constantly. Whatever was erasing him from the world stopped. I think it happens in a wave, so as soon as you notice things disappearing, if you act quickly you can find things to help you remember." He tapped the side of his head, "How many people has Toshi disappeared? We'll never know, but we know about this one."

 

Ito passed the picture along, "Hold it, we don't know if Toshi made someone disappear. We shouldn't be making assumptions. He doesn't seem like the type to erase a person."

 

"Really?" Hachiro pulled out his cell phone and played a video captured by a CCTV camera outside a school. There was no sound, but it showed someone disembarking from a bus, standing in the middle of the courtyard, before screaming at the top of her lungs. Despite her erratic behavior, no one seemed to notice or care. The footage depicted her running around, gesturing wildly, grabbing a long stick, and even threatening people with it. Eventually, she entered the school, but everyone continued to ignore her. "That is a close friend of Toshi. A girl named Ruri. My guess? She learned too much, and now he's making her vanish, just like Yori."

 

Ito took the phone and looked at it, "Do you have any other video?"

 

Hachiro shook his head, "No. It is becoming increasingly difficult to find her. I can't find any other footage of her in the school. I think I just got lucky. By the way? Yoki was the one who set up the data tap that lets us use the school's cameras. So his code is still in existence, he just... isn't anymore." He scratched his chin, pondering, "If we act quickly and can find her, maybe all we need to do is follow her around, and we'll discover how this happens. Then, perhaps we can find a way to bring Yori back."

 

Ito replayed the video, before passing it around, "Damn. This is..." He rubbed his forehead, "We have no proof that Toshi is causing this. He might be a victim just as much as anyone else. Keeping an eye on this girl is a solid call, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions. "

 

Hachiro took a deep breath and was just about to scream at the top of his lungs when he stopped. He let out his breath as he nodded, "Yes. Of course. You are right. We should first look at this... logically. Let's not go off half-cocked."

 

As Hachiro sat down to review what he knew with everyone else, a realization dawned on him, ~I'll never get through to anyone here. We're all compromised, and any plan I make with them will be doomed from its very inception.~ Seating himself on the couch, he leaned back as the conversation took unexpected turns. Deliberately choosing silence, he hoped to fade into the background, ~I will have to act alone. Toshi is just too powerful. I don't know why, but clearly, I am the one who has to save the world from this monster. I have always known I had a special purpose, and this must be God's mission for me."

 

Hachiro nodded and smiled, agreeing with Ito's plan while at the same time, coming to the conclusion that he would most likely have to throw his life away, or at the very least, end his career.

 

 

 

 

~I'm the only one who can do what needs to be done.~

 

 

 

 

 

Hachiro slowly nodded to himself, his eyes glazing over as he ignored the debate before him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

~It's Clear That Someone Has To Kill Toshi.~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hachiro absentmindedly fondled the grip of his pistol as the conversation droned on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~So I Guess...~

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He nodded one more time, this time more as an oath of intent, then a gesture to convince the others he was still listening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

~That Someone Has To Be Me.~