Being Respectful

Haruki had organized Ichiro's police guard under the premise that the assailant who stabbed him might not have been working alone. That seemed to be enough explanation for the police force to agree which granted Yuki and the others a much needed respite in order to attend Inori's funeral. However, as the well dressed group of survivors entered the funeral home and placed the gifts that Takamasa had organized at the front reception desk, Inori's mother began her snide remarks, much to the chagrin of her son Kazuya.

"This was only supposed to be for family." Inori's disgruntled mother sneered at the group as she complained to the receptionist.

"Your son told me that they were allowed and under no circumstances should I allow their harassment." The receptionist quizzically replied to Inori's mother.

"Well, that is silly." The small elderly lady started. "This is for my daughter and they are not her family."

"If this is an issue, we can leave." Konomi responded to the situation attested.

Before Shingo could interject, Kazuya, close by, came to rectify the situation with, "What I said still stands. I don't want any of them to be bothered."

The receptionist bowed slightly before Kazuya stared at his mother and asserted, "They are the only ones here that that applies to. If anyone else, anyone at all, tries something, then they can leave instead."

Shingo could hardly contain his smile while watching that all unfold.

"I suggest," Kazuya continued, "that nobody else interrupt my sister's funeral."

"She was my daughter and I have more right to be here than anyone else." The mother contended.

"Not once you abandoned her." Kazuya took the words straight out of Shingo's mouth.

The mother scoffed a bit and wandered away from the front desk.

"I'm sincerely sorry for any inconvenience." Yuki said as she bowed to Kazuya and the reception desk.

Shortly after, she was joined in her bow by the rest of the members.

Throwing up his hands out of slight embarrassment, Kazyua mumbled slightly, "Sorry about all of that. I'm sure she'll keep on for the rest of the night, but I know Inori would have wanted all of you here so please bear it."

"Of course." Konomi replied.

"If you'll excuse me, I still have things I need to deal with." Kazuya lamented.

"Until later then." Haruki said.

Kazuya left and disappeared into the small crowd.

"There's surprisingly a lot of people here for this to simply be for family." Shingo questioned.

"She had a large family." Asuka replied. "Aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, and one niece."

The support group members moved into the main room. Inori's brother didn't know what else to do so he decided on a traditional, Japanese Buddhist funeral. Overall, it was short; the majority of time going to mingling and talking to others. The ability to idly chatter, however, was never in Shingo's repertoire.

"I'm going to step outside for some fresh air." Shingo mumbled to Yuki so as not to disturb any others.

"Take someone with you." Yuki responded in order to follow through with what they had talked about previously.

"Even to just outside the door?" Shingo asked.

"I'll come with you." Asuka volunteered with a smile.

Shingo shrugged slightly before smiling back and being escorted outside by his young friend. Outside, Shingo leaned against the building while Asuka crouched down next to him.

"Cities this large are strange." Shingo noticed out loud.

"Yes they are." Asuka responded as she looked up and down the road.

"With all these people you really have to pack them in tightly." The young man continued. "I mean, look at what's around us. A tobacco store, a hair salon, and three apartment complexes. Everything is so tall that we can barely see the sky."

"Would you want to see the sky?" Asuka asked the man who had grown accustomed to being underground.

"It would be nice to see every once in a while." Shingo sighed.

"I know what you mean though." Asuka assured her friend. "At least I understand it from your perspective. This is kind of similar to the world I was in though."

"I couldn't even imagine this place taller and more populated like you had to deal with." Shingo responded with a considerate tone.

"In some ways it was nice while in other ways it..." Asuka was confirming before Haruki joined them outside interrupting the young girl.

"Hey Haruki," Asuka greeted the police inspector. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm not going to lie, I've been better." Haruki conceded. "I still can't believe she's gone."

Shingo contributed, "The world is going to be a bit more quiet without her."

"She really did have a way of making her opinions known." Haruki said with a slight chuckle.

"Hey Haruki?" Asuka sheepishly tried to change the topic.

"Yea?" Haruki knew he couldn't dwell and welcomed the change.

"Since the old man was one of the people from the train, are the police going to look for the others since they're probably out there?" Asuka wondered.

"I don't know." Haruki lamented. "They pulled me from the investigation because of my connection to Inori."

"Is there anything we can do to figure it all out?" Shingo queried, genuine in his intentions.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is to keep an eye out for the others." Haruki said as he looked around. "I can probably pull profiles on the others, but if what Ichiro told me is right, then we mainly need to keep an eye out for anyone with black eyes walking around." Haruki's tone dropped and his speech slowed as his eyes fixed in the distance. "Black...eyes...sundress...with strawberries."

"Are you okay Haruki?" Shingo asked noticing a look on Haruki's face as if he'd seen a ghost.

Shingo turned to see what Haruki was staring at and, in the distance and barely recognizable, a middle aged woman with black eyes and a tattered sundress covered in strawberries stared at the three from a street corner.

"Asuka, don't move." Shingo whispered.

The girl, unsure what was happening, did exactly what Shingo said, her trust in him was absolute. Fear rolled over.

"One of us needs to let the others know." Haruki said.

"You go, but without running." Shingo continued whispering. "We need to act nonchalant. While you're inside, call for backup."

"That's a good idea." Haruki answered.

"Tell them not to come out the front but also to not move alone." Shingo said. "We don't know if we're surrounded or if she's alone."

As Haruki turned to re-enter the building, Asuka asked, "Do I need eyes on this?"

"If you would." Shingo answered. "It's the woman from the train. We definitely are being targeted."

Asuka pulled out her phone and began tapping away on it before, saying, in a shocked tone, "Cams are down. Shingo. The city cameras are down. I have no eyes."

The woman in the distance turned her head to look up at one of the cameras that Asuka was trying to access before looking back down at the pair, turning and walking around a corner. As soon as she began to leave, Shingo took off in pursuit.

"Call the others, I'm chasing her." Shingo called out as he ran at full speed along the road.

Moments later, he had reached the point where she disappeared and, glancing in the direction she went, caught a glimpse of her dress. He continued his chase. Weaving through the streets he couldn't understand how she stayed just outside of proper view while simply walking. Shingo soon realized where the woman was going. He saw the middle aged woman make a right as she left a small side road. Shingo huffed hard as he tried to catch his breath and, reaching the spot where the woman turned he saw the iconically busy Shibuya crossing. The area was absolutely packed with people.

"Chasing her into the crowd is a recipe for disaster." Shingo thought to himself. "This might be the only chance we get though."

He caught a glimpse of her dress amongst the crowd and thought, "screw it" and continued into the crowd after her.

As he pushed his way through the crowd he could only catch minor glimpses of the woman but knew he was getting closer. Of to the sides, he could see police officers moving through the crowd as well.

"I can only hope that they're Haruki's backup." Shingo thought as he continued his chase. The people around were simply awaiting the cross signal and weren't moving. Unlike for the police, the public weren't as quick to move out of Shingo's way. Once the cross signal switched, the waves of people flooded into the streets carrying Shingo and the police into the crosswalk. As the crowds melded together, Shingo lost sight of the woman. Civilians weaved around Shingo to such capacity that the young man even lost sight of the police officers that were descending on the area.

With frustrated anger and disappointment, Shingo cursed, "Ahh, Come out!"

Suddenly, from right behind him a voice quietly shushed him. Shocked, and realizing she was directly behind him, he froze. A metallic thud boomed as he was clubbed by the middle aged woman. His limp body collapsed to the ground with the last thing he heard being the maniacal giggling of the woman fading away. The newly discarded metal pipe skittered on the pavement alerting the police in the area who converged on the spot while the woman disappeared without a sight.

Shingo came to a few moments later surrounded by police. Haruki and Yuki were looming over him as an EMT was checking on him and the rest of the support group stood by an ambulance.

"My head is killing me." Shingo groaned as he sat up slowly.

"Whoa there." The EMT cautioned. "Try not to move too much. You've been hit in the head."

"Yea, I figured that." Shingo replied.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?" Yuki exploded.

"I saw her and she tried to run." Shingo moaned. "I couldn't let her get away."

Haruki crouched down next to Shingo, "We lost her, but at least we didn't lose you."

"Sorry to scare you there." Shingo regretted.

"We can't lose any more of us." Yuki pleaded. "Keeping us alive and safe right now is more important than stopping the people coming after us. We just have to wait for them to make mistakes while not making any of our own. Do you understand, Shingo?"

"Yea," Shingo affirmed. "Sorry about all of this again."

"You should be okay to leave." The EMT informed Shingo. "Just take it easy. You don't seem to have a concussion or any other long lasting effects. You'll have a pretty bad headache for a few hours though."

"Thanks." Shingo murmured as the EMT packed up their equipment and returned to the ambulance parked nearby.

"Yuki," Shingo started. "I did confirm one thing though."

"What's that?" Yuki wondered, exacerbated at the situation.

Shingo climbed to his feet unsteadily and said, "We really are being targeted."