Chapter 9
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Third Person Perspective
Sharon’s presence at the supermarket was a complete coincidence.
She was going to buy some sushi at a supermarket she found on her way back to the base.
Now, two security guard rushed to the scene and chased out the onlookers.
And on the outside of supermarket,
”Oh, Tsukasa. Was it difficult?”
”Mother…”
Satsuki rushed over too.
She was shocked to see her daughter almost caught up in the incident, even if it was just a coincidence.
When Tsukasa saw Satsuki, she hugged her and cried.
”…good girl. It was a tragedy, but… oh?”
That’s when she realizes.
Her other child is gone.
”Where’s Ren?”
”Oh? I was with him just now.”
Until Satsuki came, Ren was holding Tsukasa’s hand and rubbing her back all the time.
But as soon as Satsuki came, he disappeared.
”Did you get separated?”
”I don’t know.”
One difficulty goes away, another one follows.
Now it’s time to find Ren.
With a sigh, the two of them look around.
Just then, a text message arrives.
’I have diarrhea. Go home first.’
The moment they read it, they look at each other,
”…Hahaha…”
”Heh-heh.”
They laugh at each other.
”Diarrhea at this time? How unlucky is he?”
”Maybe he’s just a nervous wreck. Seriously…”
But as they were saying that, they realized.
Ren gave them some time together.
They are mother and daughter by blood.
Naturally, they have a bond that Ren, an adopted child, does not have.
”You were with him the whole time until I came along, weren’t you?”
”Yes.”
”I see. How can he be so considerate of us? We’re a family, the three of us.”
”That’s okay. Maybe he really does have diarrhea.”
”That’s true. In the meantime, shall we make porridge when we get back? For the idiot.”
”For the fool. For my brother.”
The two go home, putting aside their confusion.
*
At the same time.
Inside the supermarket, the two security guards are confronting the suspect.
”Hey, calm down! Let her go!”
”Shut up!”
The suspect kicks a watermelon.
”What are we going to do? Are the cops here yet?” said security guard I.
”They’ll be here in five minutes,” said security guard II.
”Seriously? Because of these onlookers.”
Although the onlookers were successfully chased out of the supermarket, the area around the supermarket was full of them.
The traffic jam caused by the large number of people is probably delaying the arrival of the police cars. But then,
”Don’t worry.”
”Huh!? Who are you?”
A young man in a police uniform came to me.
”I’m Yazawa from the police. This is dangerous. You two need to evacuate.”
”What? But you’re alone?”
”I’m a professional. I’m used to it. Don’t worry.”
Yazawa drives out the two security guards.
Then he confronts the suspect.
”Hey, hey, a single policeman?”
The criminal laughs.
After all, he has a hostage here.
Even if the guard becomes a policeman, he still has the upper hand. But,
”Unfortunately, I’m not a cop. But…”
Yazawa takes off his hat.
”Uh…”
The criminal flinches at the look in his eyes.
Sharon, on the other hand, seems to be escaping from reality and is not happy when the policeman comes.
* * *
Protagonist’s POV
(Wait for me. I’ll help you now.)
And what the policeman really is is me―Kitaoji Ren.
After I gave Tsukasa to Satsuki, I changed into the uniform I keep in a nearby warehouse, and came here on my feet.
So I don’t have a police identification card or a partner.
”…”
I turn off the lights in the room with the remote I was holding.
”Huh!?”
It’s pitch-dark, and it made the suspect flinch. But then, I close the gap between us.
”!”
He realizes I’m here and tries to put a knife into Sharon’s neck.
However, just before,
”Whoa!”
I protect Sharon and hold out the back of my hand.
The knife pierces the back of my hand, and Sharon’s cheek is stained with blood.
”!”
At that moment, light returns to Sharon’s eyes.
In the darkness, she is surprised to see that someone is holding her.
(…what?)
In most cases, it would be suspected it as a case of molestation, and I feel her fear.
But this time, I feel nostalgic.
I held Sharon in my arms, and I used an iron claw technique on the suspect.
But it was more brutal than the wrestling.
In addition, I’m blinding him with my fingers.
”…!”
The suspect can’t breathe.
He struggles against me, but his face is crushed by the increasing force of the attack.
In the end, his face explodes like an apple.
And with his face crushed, I finally let go of my hand.
A dead body from the neck up is a grotesque sight.
Fortunately, it was a blackout.
I wipe the body fluids from my hands with the corpse’s clothes.
Then I hugged Sharon again.
As I’ve said before, the blackout allowed me to hide my true identity.
”…excuse me, what is your name?”
”…Yazawa.”
”Is it true? It sounds like my father’s voice.”
”It’s probably just a figment of someone else’s imagination.”
I want to see her face, but it’s too dark.
”Have you grown up?”
”Yes?”
”Stay healthy, okay?”
The next moment, Sharon’s consciousness fades away as she smells something.
”F—a—t—h—e—r?”
”Yeah, it’s your papa.”
As she passes out, Sharon’s eyes begin to adjust.
He is a Japanese policeman who looks nothing like his father, but he is exactly like his father.
His most distinctive feature is his gentle voice.
”…”
She reaches out her hand, but it doesn’t reach me and she slumped down.
When her hand slumped down, I picked it up and shook her hand.
This time, I decide to say goodbye for the rest of my life.
* * *
Sharon’s POV
’―The hostage crisis at the supermarket has been resolved with the death of the hostage taker. According to the police, he tried to commit suicide after the power went out. The hostage was not injured.’
It was the first major incident in a long time, but since it was solved so quickly, the stations could only report it in an indifferent way.
’You did something dangerous, you know?’
Natalie turns off the TV on her smartphone and stands up straight.
’Although I have falsified the records and covered it up, be careful. Okay?’
”Yeah… Sorry.”
A high school boy is being scolded by a junior high school girl.
She’s the intelligence staff and I’m the team leader in our team… but I seem to have a weakness for women.
’You’re the most unfortunate person in the world, aren’t you?’
”…”
’What is it?’
”No, I’m just saying you’re very talkative.”
’Huh! Are you not sorry! You idiot!’
Natalie puts her hands on her hips and hurls a barrage of invective at me.
Robinson, who was also present, was surprised.
(I never thought Natalie would open up so much…)
Despite her phobia of men due to the s*x crime, he has never seen her so eloquent and emotionally expressive, even though she is talking to men with a machine voice.
(…maybe)
Robinson is pleased.
The girl who used to hate men likes her best friend.
It means she approves of him, just like she approves of herself.
(Still, what a sinful man!)
He laughed and watched the scene.
After the incident, Sharon was hospitalized at the base hospital.
She was not injured, but she was admitted for a checkup just in case.
”What a tragedy, huh? To be held hostage in such a peaceful country.”
”If the odds were this high, I’d rather have won the lottery.”
”That’s right.”
My senior officer laughs as she peels the apple clean with a knife.
She can do this without looking at her hand, perhaps because of her experience in raising children.
”Anyway, it’s unusual for you to ask me for advice?”
”Yes. As a matter of fact―”
I told her as much as I could remember.
A boy I saw at school who looked like my father.
And the policeman named Yazawa who protected me during the hostage crisis.
”…it’s a strange story.”
”Isn’t it?”
”But your father… well, it’s hard to say, but… he died in the war, didn’t he?”
”Yes.”
”So he’s not the same person?”
”That’s the thing. But I don’t think he died in the war.”
”Huh? What do you mean?”
”We had the funeral, but we don’t accept his body because it seems like a different person.”
”I see.”
After nodding a few times, my senior officer took out her smart phone and showed me a picture.
”…And this one?” I said.
”It’s a grave marker (battlefield cross) in Slavyansk. All the members of your father’s team are buried there.”
”…”
”But your father’s not here. Legally, he’s declared dead, but the truth is, he’s MIA.”
”!”
I take another look at the grave marker.
I look at it again, and sure enough, my father’s name is there, but even the date of death is not written.
”…what’s the meaning of this?”
”Me too. I was curious, so I poked around in various places looking for it. Then I found this article.”
The next thing my senior showed me was a document from the Army Intelligence and Preservation Command.
The article described in detail the circumstances of my father’s body, the cause of death, the burial method, and so on.
Included in the file was a document on memory transfer.
’1) Jim Clark’s case
After his heart transplant in 2001, Jim, a man of rugged character, began to write poetry.
His wife was surprised at the sudden change in her husband, who had dropped out of high school and had never been good at writing.
For the first time in his life, the husband writes a love letter to his wife, which makes her feel relieved.
A few moments later, a letter from the donor’s family arrives addressed to the husband.
The letter contained a description of the donor before his death, and it turned out that his hobby was poetry.
(2) Young girl with congenital heart disease (7) case
After the successful operation, the girl began to have nightmares.
In these nightmares, she was always killed by someone.
Investigation reveals that the donor of the girl’s heart has been killed by someone.
The police made a portrait of the man who appeared in the girl’s nightmares, which led to the arrest of the murderer.
(3) Bill Walk’s case
Before his transplantation, Walk was a hard-working businessman with no hobbies.
Despite this, after the transplant, he suddenly became fond of physical exercise and started playing sports.
It is no wonder, then, that his donor was a Hollywood stuntman.
He was a very active sportsman who loved to be physically active.’
―――
’Results of a study on memory transference after organ transplantation.
Gary Schwartz, a psychology professor at University of Arizona, has conducted research on organ transplant recipients for more than 20 years and found that in 70 cases of transplanted organs, the memory of the deceased’s life remained.
Examples.
A girl suddenly became fluent in a foreign language after receiving an organ transplant.
Another girl, after receiving a cardiopulmonary by a young musician, suddenly became obsessed with playing the guitar, writing poems, and composing music'(*1).
It is hard to believe, but it is an undeniable fact as there are many examples.
At this document, my senior officer smiles.
”I wonder what would have happened if this had been your father?”
”…”
I want to see him.
I hold the document tightly.
Just, really.
I really do.
”I think you should get paid and go look for him.”
The words of her superior officer pushed Sharon’s back.
［References and Sources]
*1: Excite News, March 8, 2020 https://www.excite.co.jp/news/article/EpochTimes_52651/
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.