Several days after Tsumugi’s passing, Asa stood outside the 8th Ward police station in the full glow of the streetlights. A man stepped out of the station and came over to her.
“Sorry I haven’t been in touch. Did you happen to find who made that mask?” It was the detective, Morimine. Asa had been in contact with him.
“I didn’t, no. I asked around, but none of my contacts had any hunches to go on,” she lied blithely.
“I see. Well, I mean, thanks for taking the trouble to look into this for me. I appreciate your cooperation.” Morimine was at least quick to thank her for the effort. He was probably a decent guy. Which meant he might do what humans would call “the right thing.”
“I do have some other information, though.”
“Other information?”
Asa nodded. “Promise not to ask too many questions?” she asked.
Morimine regarded the serious look in her eyes, and steeled his resolve. “Sure.”
“You’re working on the Yujiro Utsumi case, is that right, detective?”
Shock spread out across Morimine’s face. He was about to ask something, but closed his mouth, swallowed, and gave a simple, “Yes.”
Asa continued. “Apparently, Yujiro Utsumi used Ghouls to abduct young women, and then he ate their flesh.” She shouldn’t get this involved with human affairs, and there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t hang for the decision at some later point. But Asa was willing to take the risk.
“You’re saying that Yujiro Utsumi ate human flesh despite being a human himself?” Morimine asked in disbelief, rubbing at his forehead.
“I don’t have any proof, so whether you believe me or not is up to you, detective.”
Asa was surprised at how quick Morimine was to respond. “No, I believe you,” he said. “Thanks to you, all the pieces have come together. Guess this maybe was a human’s doing after all.” Then, something else appeared to click inside his head. “In that case, then Otokaze might … Oh, this is bad. I’ve got to stop her!”
Morimine turned on his heel, clearly unable to hold back his racing thoughts, but stopped long enough to look back and say, “Thank you so much for all your assistance.”
“Is it cool to just leave me be when I know this secret?” Asa asked.
The corner of Morimine’s mouth curled up slightly at Asa’s inordinate forthrightness. “You’ve changed your face,” he said.
“Huh?”
“A bunch of stuff happened to me a little while back, so I get it. It’s a good look for you,” Morimine said. Then, he offered a casual “See ya!” before heading off.
Left by herself, Asa reached up to stroke her cheek. “What’s that about?” she muttered quietly to herself. “Well, I guess it’s to be expected.”
The day Tsumugi died, Uta had told her, “Tsumugi said she wanted to leave this house to you. And she told me to list you as one of her family members. I’ll see about having Itori handle the relevant paperwork for that.”
“She wanted me to have the house?”
“Way back when, this used to be Tsumugi’s dressmaking shop. She said she wanted it turned back into a shop, whether it’s a mask shop or whatever else.”
She didn’t have the skill to open a shop. But someday, once she’d gotten better, she would open one there. She couldn’t do shoddy work.
Wound around her arm now was the scarf Tsumugi had embroidered. She clutched it tightly and turned her gaze back ahead. “All right, let’s go home!”
Back home, where some trace of Tsumugi still lingered.