Chapter 59: Life Is Over

In the ambulance.

Misaki Itakura pressed her forehead against her clasped hands, praying in her heart that Akikawa Kyousuke would be safe.

"Miss Itakura, do you have any water?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded.

Itakura Misaki suddenly looked up.

She saw Kyousuke Akikawa, lying on the stretcher with his eyes closed. She didn't know when he'd opened them, but he was looking at her.

The worry in Misaki Itakura's heart suddenly eased.

However, after seeing Akikawa Kyousuke's left eye, which seemed to be covered in blood and turning red, she felt a sense of suffocation again.

Misaki Itakura held back her urge to cry, took some water from her bag, and looked at the emergency responders from the fire department.

After seeing the other party nod, she unscrewed the bottle cap and handed it to Akikawa Kyousuke.

Maybe because he was lying down, or perhaps Akikawa Kyousuke was too seriously injured and somewhat dazed.

Misaki Itakura watched Kyousuke Akikawa take the water bottle and drink only a few sips before accidentally tipping it over.

The bottle spilled, and water from inside drenched Akikawa Kyousuke's school uniform.

"Ah—!"

Itakura Misaki exclaimed, quickly grabbing the overturned bottle.

But Akikawa Kyousuke's British school uniform was already soaked from the spilled water.

"Cough!"

Akikawa Kyousuke coughed as if he'd choked on the water.

The police officer Megure Juzo sent to accompany him quickly helped Akikawa Kyousuke sit up.

One of the first responders asked Akikawa Kyousuke to lean forward while holding his chest with the other hand.

This position could help a choking patient clear water from their airways with light coughing.

After a moment, Akikawa Kyousuke finally stopped coughing and lay down again.

Misaki Itakura looked at Akikawa Kyousuke, who couldn't even hold the water bottle, and couldn't help but say:

"Mr. Akikawa, let me feed you."

"Thank you, Miss Itakura, but it's not necessary."

Akikawa Kyousuke gently thanked her, then closed his eyes again.

After Akikawa Kyousuke lay back down, the ambulance staff also helped remove his shirt.

Electrodes were connected to his chest and a blood pressure cuff wrapped around his arm.

This was to monitor Kyousuke Akikawa's heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration in real-time.

——

"This way, there's a very reasonable explanation for why my clothes are wet."

Akikawa Kyousuke, lying on the stretcher with his eyes closed, letting the emergency personnel examine him, thought to himself.

The water spill from earlier wasn't accidental.

That's because Akikawa Kyousuke noticed that besides the emergency responders and his manager, Miss Misaki Itakura, there was also a detective who followed him onto the ambulance.

To prevent the criminal police from discovering that his clothes were wet and becoming suspicious, Akikawa Kyousuke spilled the water bottle, wetting his clothes while drinking.

"Although I don't think the police would suspect me of cleaning bloodstains when they see my wet clothes, there's nothing wrong with being careful," Akikawa Kyousuke thought.

*Ding*

He wasn't sure how much time had passed.

Suddenly, a clear mechanical sound echoed in Akikawa Kyousuke's mind.

Immediately, a system message appeared before Akikawa Kyousuke's eyes.

[Option 3, Complete]

[Reward distribution: Physical aptitude +5, Recovery card x1]

"It seems that the 'gift' I gave Mr. Nishihara in exchange was well-received by him."

Akikawa Kyousuke thought to himself, feeling his somewhat weak body quickly regain energy with the 5-point physical bonus.

The sense of powerlessness that had enveloped his entire body was rapidly fading.

His body was also bursting with a vitality he had never experienced before.

"My physical condition should now be close to that of a normal person. I won't be so weak anymore."

Akikawa Kyousuke thought to himself.

Akikawa Kyousuke was quite satisfied with the improvement in his physical condition.

As for the recovery card, he had no intention of using it.

First, if he recovered too quickly, it might raise suspicion. Second, the injury he suffered this time, in his opinion, wasn't very serious.

With his current constitution, as long as he received regular treatment, he should be able to recover quickly.

Akikawa Kyousuke closed his eyes and reflected on the events of today.

Koichi Nishihara tried to frame him.

Cover-ups were made in terms of motives, murder weapons, and alibis.

Koichi Nishihara chose someone unrelated to him to obscure the motive for framing him.

So Akikawa Kyousuke made his injuries appear "serious enough" for the police and detectives to realize that the killer had a motive to commit the crime against him.

Koichi Nishihara placed the murder weapon in his hand only to use it as undeniable proof of his guilt.

Then Akikawa Kyousuke created a different murder weapon by changing the evidence at the scene and gave it to Koichi Nishihara.

Nishihara deliberately killed the deceased after knocking him unconscious.

This not only provided an alibi from the audience but also prevented him from providing an alibi when the killer was murdered.

In this case, Akikawa Kyousuke led the detectives to misjudge the time of the deceased's murder by adjusting the room temperature.

When Akikawa Kyousuke woke up in the room, he discovered he'd been unconscious for 22 minutes.

Under the ambient temperature at that time, it would only take half an hour for the body to appear stained.

So, Akikawa Kyousuke turned off the room's central air conditioning.

In this way, the room temperature would drop quickly.

The goal of this step wasn't to slow the formation of livor mortis and rigor mortis.

It was to allow detectives and police officers to misjudge the actual time of the deceased's death due to temperature changes in the room.

Had the room temperature stayed the same, detectives would have determined the deceased was killed in the third act when the livor mortis appeared on the body.

In that case, he wouldn't have had an alibi.

Then, by turning off the central air conditioning, the room's temperature dropped.

In this way, livor mortis also formed.

The ambient temperature at that time would've taken over an hour.

Naturally, detectives would judge by the livor mortis that the deceased had been dead for a long time.

As for breaking the deceased's jaw, Akikawa simply didn't want Koichi Nishihara to use the excuse of "improvisation" to reduce his guilt.

Akikawa Kyousuke wasn't at all concerned about detectives suspecting him.

Because with his own physical condition, how could he so cleanly break the jaw of a normal adult man?

Akikawa Kyousuke understood Japanese criminal law.

In Japan, homicide is a very broad crime.

The range of sentences goes from a suspended two-year sentence to the death penalty.

The most critical criteria for sentencing are whether the offender intended to kill and the offender's attitude in admitting guilt.

Once convicted of murder, the minimum sentence is five years.

And what he let the police and detectives see was Nishihara Koichi's crime.

It's much more severe than mere murder.

"Murder, attempted murder, torture of the deceased, and body mutilation."

"Considering all the crimes, Koichi Nishihara will undoubtedly be convicted of an 'extreme crime.'"

"In that case, he will almost certainly be sentenced to life imprisonment or worse, without parole."

"As for whether he'll face the death penalty, that depends on his plea."

If he pleads guilty, it would be challenging to sentence him to death for killing only one person.

On the other hand, if he pleads guilty with a bad attitude, he could still be sentenced to death for killing only one person.

A "bad attitude" in pleading guilty means refusing to admit it even with irrefutable evidence.

Whether pretending to have amnesia or making things up, there have been cases where inmates were sentenced to death for it.

So, after being caught, Nishihara Koichi would face two options:

First, he denies the crime he committed, ultimately seen as uncooperative and showing a bad attitude in confessing.

Second, he admits to something he didn't do, ultimately sentenced for an extreme crime.

"No matter what Mr. Saihara chooses, his life will be over."

Akikawa Kyousuke thought, resisting the urge to smile.

To all readers who have read this far, please scroll down to the end of this chapter and exit the interface after reading. Thank you all, readers!

(Fin del capítulo)