With little to do other than wait, Atreus takes a breath to consider not just his next moves, but the actions that led to this very moment. First and foremost, he had a mounting sense of regret over the decision to bring the murder weapon here, considering it housed the tracking device that led the killer right to their door. He recalls being against the idea when Edward first brought it up, but conceded to it. He even defended it when Ryuji and Devin gave just as much pushback later. For the gangster, all the signs were there; all the opportunities to stop were seen, but he simply didn't heed them.

Through the entire investigation up until this point, Atreus felt pleasantly surprised at his progress, despite his inexperience with such a delicate task, but now more than ever his lack of finesse is apparent. Because of one crucial error – the biggest he's made thus far – Edward Takiyama's corpse rests before him, as does the assassin who killed him, unable to be questioned.

Could this situation have been prevented earlier than deciding to not bring the gun? What prior actions could've rippled through time to stop this unnecessary loss of life? Should he have told Colter about the gun last night? Should he have let the detectives find the gun in Takiyama's apartment and hold out hope they'd connect the dots themselves? Atreus can only find more ways to blame himself as he counts the seconds until Colter's arrival.

After about ten guilt-stricken minutes of quiet reflection, Atreus looks up at the apartment door, still left ajar since the violent encounter with the assassin, his attention drawn to the loudening thumps of feet against the wooden floor in the corridor, heard in a rushed pace. When they reach their apex, the door flies open, revealing a nervous Detective Colter with his gun in hand, expecting the worst.

“What the...” Terrence utters as he steps inside to see the two living Sanada-gumi members sitting quietly around two more dead bodies in the center of the apartment. He notices each corpse's bullet would, and the assassin's grotesque leg injury. “What in God's name happened here?” he asks, twisting his face into an expression of unadulterated confusion.

“We got surprised,” Atreus answers as he stands up. “He just barged in while we were talking and... all of this shit happened in the span of like twenty seconds or so.” He speaks in a hesitant and somewhat distant manner, wanting to not discuss the matter anymore even though the violent encounter occurred mere minutes ago.

“Christ,” the detective utters as he kneels down to examine the two bodies without touching them. “Atreus, I want you to start from the top; tell me everything that directly led up to this little meeting you had with Takiyama. And tell me everything, alright? I don't want you hiding any details from me, no matter how big or small.” He stands up again to give the stern glare he's so used to wearing. “Talk to me.”

“Fine,” Atreus sighs, finally coming to terms with the fact that it's time to be fully honest and transparent. “The day we bumped into each other at Takiyama's apartment, Devin and I found a gun that had been planted there in order to frame him. That one.” He points to the unloaded gun on the small camping table.

“This?” Colter asks for confirmation. Atreus nods. The detective picks it up with his prosthetic right hand to examine it. “You found this in the apartment, mere minutes before you saw Mason and I, and you didn't tell us?” His brow furrows, he's already starting to become annoyed.

“I knew that he was being framed, but I wasn't sure if you knew, as well,” Atreus begins defending himself preemptively. “I couldn't risk making it look like it was someone in the Sanada-gumi who killed Camlin, alright?”

“Fine, fine. So this is the murder weapon, then? How do you know?”

“The bullets,” the gangster points to the cartridges he left on the table. “It has several rounds of what might be the type of ammunition that was used to kill Camlin.”

Colter sets the gun back down and picks up one of the bullets. “VF+ rounds. This is what we thought killed him, too. It's what led us to believe there was a possible link with the Blue Star. I assume that was your line of thought, too?”

Atreus nods. “Yeah, it was, initially.”

“Alright, moving on; why is this gun here, in this apartment right now? If Takiyama was going to be framed with it, why would you bring it to him?”

“Because he... volunteered to hold onto it for us,” the augmented man begins to grow reluctant as the conversation nears a point he doesn't wish to talk about. “I first brought it to the Asano family office, but I realized that it was a dumb idea to keep a hot gun there. Edward said... He said he'd hold onto it since this apartment was outside of Kyoba. So, I agreed to it.”

“Let's back up a tiny bit. How did you come into contact with Takiyama to begin with?”

“The day after Camlin's murder, Devin and I went to his apartment for the first time to look for him on Bessho's behalf. He wasn't there, so we broke in, and we found this,” Atreus pulls out Takiyama's burner phone. “It's a burner phone that belonged to him, given to him by Camlin so they could talk to each other safely. It had a number on it, which belonged to Camlin's burner phone, which is what Edward had on him because he took off Camlin's body.”

“Shit,” Colter utters again. “So he really was a witness. And you found this phone the day after the murder happened, and you didn't tell me about this, either?”

“How was I supposed to know Ed was so closely linked to Camlin?” Atreus asks with a shrug. “I only took this phone because I had nothing to go on at the time, alright? Nothing. It was purely a shot in the dark from my perspective at the time.”

“First the gun and now this phone, which you've had since day one.” Terrence shakes his head disapprovingly. “What else have you been hiding, Atreus? I want to hear it all.”

“That's all,” Atreus emphasizes. “Those are the only two pieces of physical evidence I had on me. That's it; I'm not hiding anything else. Before this point, I spoke to Blue Star members, which led me to Marvin Choi, who was apparently killed days before. I spoke to an Atmos employee about Camlin's professional life, which is what led me to believe this might have something to do with Atmos's data, but I'm not even sure if that's the case anymore. That's all I got.”

“Okay,” the detective nods, conceding the point, but he clearly he more to say on the matter. “So, what happened in here? You and Takiyama decided to meet up here; you intended to leave the gun and get that USB drive you mentioned from him, right? Do you have it?”

“Yes, I have it,” Atreus answers as takes the tiny USB drive out of his pocket to show it to the Colter. “He gave it to me before this asshole showed up.” He points to the dead assassin.

“And what happened when he appeared? How did the struggle go?”

“Well, there was a knock at the door, which we weren't expecting, so I opened it, but he kicked it open, pulled his gun out, looking like he was going straight for Edward, so I pushed him to the wall, and knocked the gun out of his hand. He punched me, headbutted me, then kicked me down, so I cut his leg, then snapped it so he wouldn't move.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“If he couldn't stand, then how was he still able to kill Takiyama?” Colter asks, his eyes narrowed attentively.

“Edward had the bright idea to grab the guy's gun off the floor, which distracted me for a bit, and the asshole took a knife out and swung at me, and I was barely able to dodge. He tried to follow up with a stab, which I dodged again, but he just kicked me in the chin and I fell back. Ed tried to shoot him, but the gun wouldn't go off.”

“This gun?” The detective points to the gun on the floor, still near the dead assassin's hand.

“Yeah.”

Colter picks it up and glances at it for a mere few seconds before nodding. “This has a print-reading grip. Unless your palm and finger prints match what it's tied to, it stays on safety.”

“Christ,” Atreus utters, shaking his head at the avoidable mishap.

“So what happened after the attacker kicked you away?”

“He turned and stabbed his knife directly into Ed's foot, causing him to drop the gun. The asshole grabbed it, lunged onto Ed, then...” Atreus sighs before concluding the story. “He shot him... And then shot himself.” He looks down at Edward's body once again, yet another tinge of guilt stings him.

“Is that everything that happened, Mr. Shinoda?” Colter looks over to Devin, who had been standing quiet and meek the entire time, staring at the bodies in a stupor.

“Y-yes,” Devin answers quickly but nervously, nearly stumbling over the single word as he snaps out of his daze. “Everything happened just as he described it.”

“You didn't try to interfere?”

“No, I... I just pulled Edward out of the way when the killer came in, and tried not to get in the way,” Devin timidly answers, but as he speaks, he realizes he probably could've done more to help, and maybe Takiyama would still be alive. He, too, experiences a stab of guilt as he glances back down at Edward's now pale face.

“Fair enough. One last question.” Colter crosses his arms and becomes stern again. “How did the killer find you? Were you followed?”

Atreus's body subtly tightens up, and he becomes noticeably uncomfortable. He doesn't answer immediately, but still puts forth the effort to utter answer as quickly as he can to avoid any needless suspicion.

“No... Well, yes,” the gangster answers, but rescinds it. “We just...” he heaves a sigh, realizing there's no sugarcoated method of admitting his incompetence. He decides to force it all out at once. “There was a small tracking device... It was hidden inside a hollowed out bullet casing in the gun we brought.” He points to the crushed remains of the tiny tracking device on the table.

Colter is at first shocked at the information, thinking it'd be too dumb a mistake to make. However, he looks at the table and finally takes notices of the tiny remnants of the small tracking device. He sees the small, broken LED light and control board, and the miniature, bent antenna. Next to it is the casing that housed it and the bullet that was pried out.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me,” Colter utters in am agitated groan, showing the most frustration he's displayed so far. He rubs his forehead in frustration as he tries to make sense of what he's been told. “The god damn gun you found in Takiyama's apartment had a tracking device in it?! Are you serious?! How the hell do you miss something like that?!” He finally becomes angry enough to yell.

A small part of Atreus wants to argue back, but his conscience forbids him. He realizes his mistake, and instead opts to quietly accept his harsh scolding. He hangs his head ashamedly, his gaze continuing to stare at Edward's corpse. He notices some of the blood on the floor had already begun to dry.

“You should've given me the god damn gun, Atreus!” Colter continues his verbal lashing. “The moment you ran into me and Mason, you should've given me the god damn gun! You didn't need that fucking thing to be here! You would've met with Takiyama regardless! But you kept the fucking thing anyway! I gave you a chance to come clean to me about everything last night, before all of this shit could go down! And you didn't take it! For what?! To play detective for the Sanada-gumi?!”

The furious Colter eventually decides to back off and take a deep breath to calm himself down. He knows that a lecture won't turn back time, but his frustration is almost insurmountable. He pensively rubs his forehead again and takes another long, meditative breath before finally softening his volume, but maintaining his usual stern tone.

“Look, I'm not gonna sit here and judge you as if you were the one who pulled the trigger,” Terrence tries to sound more sympathetic, yet his agitation is still obvious. “But if you had just been more careful with what you've been doing, there'd be one less body involved in this case. I know you took every precaution you probably thought of, but this is what happens when you slip up. It doesn't matter how many times you look over your shoulder when you still fail to do it the one time it truly counts.”

Atreus maintains his guilty, downward stare. He hears every word the detective is saying, and quietly agrees. He doesn't know what else he could possibly say to himself that Terrence hasn't already stated.

“But I don't have time to stand here and lecture you all night,” Colter says with a shrug, bringing the discussion back on track. “What else happened afterward? Did you do anything else before you called me?”

“I just searched the guy's pockets for anything useful,” Atreus, answering promptly, but in a low, defeated tone, points to the phone and pin on the table. “He just had a burner phone and a pin. It's different from the Sanada-gumi one. No idea where it came from.”

The detective picks up the pin first and brings up to his face. “Yeah, this definitely isn't the Sanada-gumi's emblem,” he agrees while examining it with narrowed eyes, but he tilts his head slightly, as if reacting to something he's seen before, but can't place when or where. “It looks vaguely familiar, though. I can't put my finger on it.”

“You know the emblem?”

“I'm not totally sure. I'm experiencing some déjà vu right now, but I can't say why.” Terrence gives up on the pin for now, setting it back down on the table, and picks up the phone. “Did you look through this?” he asks while turning it on to begin his own search.

“Yeah, it only has a call history with two different numbers. We haven't called either yet to see who picks up. I figured the police would be better suited for that.”

“I appreciate that,” Colter gives his first sincere comment of gratitude after his angry rant. “Though there's no telling what kind of methods they might be relying on that could divert tracing attempts. Either way, this is a good find. If it works out, we can zone-in on whoever this guy's cooperating with.” He sets the phone back down and looks back up at Atreus. “So, what exactly do you plan on doing with the USB drive?”

“Well, we know a person who's skilled at programming and hacking.” Atreus fidgets slightly, aware that he has to possibly start arguing for permission to walk away with the storage device. “We're confident he can decrypt anything that's on here in a reasonable amount of time – possibly even tonight, if it's not too tightly locked up.”

“Considering what happened here, you know I'm not obligated to let you walk out of here with it, right?” Terrence sternly states with a furrowed brow. “If a killer wanted whatever was on there, then how can I trust someone from the Sanada-gumi with it?” He crosses his arms, expecting to have his mind changed.

“Because whatever's on here might be something dangerous being cooked up by Zephir with the cooperation of whoever that emblem belongs to; I mentioned it to you last night. I feel it in my gut that the information on here is bigger than the clan, and it could help in identifying who they're working with to do whatever it is they're doing.” Atreus stands his ground and gives his honest thoughts, regardless of how concrete or flimsy they might come off as. “I know you don't have to let me walk out with this, but I need to see why these files are so important that civilians would be killed over them, and why the Sanada-gumi was nearly framed for it; it could still involve us.”

“Is that why you didn't tell me about Takiyama's phone or the gun found in his apartment? Because you thought it'd make me believe the Sanada-gumi was behind it all?”

“...Yes,” Atreus timidly confirms. “I wasn't trying to be secretive for the sake of it. I was just doing what I felt was the right decision for accomplishing the task I was given. And now, I also want to decrypt these documents because Edward asked me to.” He gives one final, quick glance at Takiyama's pale, lifeless face. Having failed the one who trusted him, Atreus feels more compelled than ever to finish what he started.