Tantei wa Mou, Shindeiru - Volume 5 - Chapter 4

The truth to that day, the last wish. 

"It's been a week, Mia." 

Once I reached my destination, I breathed a sigh of relief that the person I was looking for was there as planned. 

"You really are quite the prude to request for a sudden meeting, aren't you?" 

Shaking off her bluish hair with her right hand, Mia Whitlock gave me a cursory glance. She was dressed in her usual Priestess attire to fulfill her duties. 

"I thought I said I would contact you if there is any progress." 

Yes, I had made a separate request to Mia, apart from the Natsunagi case, to observe the next world crisis…in particular, it was to observe the appearance of the?Primordial Seed?. I knew it wasn't exactly the most appropriate of moments, but I put my faith in Mia, believing she would guide me to where Saikawa is. 

"Sorry, there's a slight change in the situation." 

I stood several meters away from Mia and faced her. 

Behind her, I can see the capital of Japan far, far away. 

We're at the observation deck of Japan's tallest radio tower—just as she did at London's clock tower, Mia Whitlock had taken on the Priestess role here, where she could see the entire city. 

"…Are you alone?" 

Mia asked me, looking out over the glass wall at the sunset. 

It's just me and Mia here in this gallery and nobody else in sight…in other words. 

"Siesta isn't here right now." 

I said, and Mia's shoulder jolted a little. 

I didn't need to check to realize Mia's main purpose for coming to Japan. 

"There was a bit of an incident on the way here, so Siesta's handling it now." 

"Same old, I see." 

Mia gave a small sigh and turned to me again. 

"So? What are you really doing here?" 

Mia's wisteria gaze pierced through me. Henceforth, she wouldn't allow for any deceit. It wasn't something I was banking on though. 

"Yeah, I just wanted to make sure." 

I took a breath and asked Mia. 

"Siesta was brought back to life by Natsunagi's heart, wasn't she?" 

That was the common understanding that Siesta and I had arrived at without speaking to each other. A year ago, Siesta had lost her heart and her life, but her body was preserved in a cryogenic state and she continued to exist in a state of suspended animation. Therefore, there's one necessary piece required to truly bring Siesta back to life—the heart. 

Due to the power of the?seed?, Siesta's consciousness remained in her heart. In other words, as long as that heart could be returned to her body…her physical body and spirit could be reunited once more, and she would be revived. That's a simple story. 

But there is one big problem with that, too big in fact. Siesta's heart was buried in Nagisa Natsunagi's body. In the past, Natsunagi (Hel) had damaged her own heart when she fought Siesta and then attacked random people on the streets of London in an attempt to find a replacement. In the end, it was Siesta's heart that finally fit the bill. Therefore, if she were to lose that heart again, Natsunagi would— 

"Yes." 

Mia stared at me without changing her expression. 

"Nagisa Natsunagi realized that possibility herself and told me. She said to me, "If I die…this heart can be returned to its owner, then the?famous detective?will be revived, right"?" 

—As expected, Natsunagi resolved herself at that moment. 

She decided that her death would bring Siesta back to life. 

That's why, a week ago in London, Natsunagi had promised me. 

"I'll get Siesta back, no matter what it takes." 

No matter what it took, even if it cost her life. 

"…Mia, didn't you try to stop her?" 

I asked as I felt my nails claw into my palms. 

"I did." 

"! Then why…!" 

"Because!" 

Mia's scream echoed through the observatory. 

"That's what changing the future is all about!" 

She was the angriest she had ever been, her shoulders shaking furiously as she cried further. She burst into tears with rage towards me, or perhaps towards herself. 

"No matter how painful the choice is, if you really have a wish that you want to fulfill, we…!” 

…Yeah, that's right. That's what I asked of Mia. Together, we could get Siesta back, and I asked her to find a new future route. This was the result. 

A year ago, Siesta died and Natsunagi survived thanks to her heart. 

And now, Natsunagi's dead, and the heart revived Siesta. 

This was the only Route X ending that could fulfill the miracle I'd hoped for. 

"I made her do it, didn't I?" 

I was referring to Mia and Natsunagi. I couldn't blame them. 

"No matter what you sacrifice, no matter what the cost, don't stop trying to make your wish come true.” 

I remembered Bat's last words to me. 

I thought I was ready for this the entire time. 

I was so prepared to do this that I consumed the?seed?, and in other words, I gave up my body. 

Even if the?seed?would take a body part or some of my lifespan, I was willing to do it as long as it could bring Siesta back to life. 

…But I didn't think of the possibility that Natsunagi was thinking the same thing. I didn't realize how much Natsunagi wanted to get Siesta back and that it wasn't just me. 

Yes, Natsunagi and Siesta had already met six years earlier than I did. Their memories were stolen by SEED. They met as enemies and eventually parted by death. 

But that bereavement was due to Siesta's devotion to Natsunagi, who used her own heart to fulfill Natsunagi's wish to live again, to attend school. So, now that Natsunagi had regained her memory and knew of the whole story, it wasn't unnatural for her to try to save Siesta, even at the cost of her own life. 

"Nagisa gave a relieved smile." 

Mia said, wiping her tears again and again. 

"Of course, she never thought about dying in the beginning, but… even so, she finally fulfilled her duty as a detective, and was able to repay the debt to you and Senpai." 

"…!" 

That's a mistake. Natsunagi wasn't the one who hadn't returned the favor, it was me. 

"I asked Nagisa, ‘Are you not scared? Is this fine?’ And then she said," 

Mia looked out into the distance, 

"She said she was just returning what she owed. She said this is the right route." 

That was what Nagisa said, Mia recalled, describing what happened behind the scenes that day. 

"That can't be it, that's not the future I wanted…" 

"Yes. I did not think it was right either. I was not supposed to think so." 

Mia muttered as she looked beyond the glass window of the observatory under the sunset. 

"It is not the right choice. At least, I knew right away that that future was not the one you, Kimihiko Kimizuka, wanted. After all you did to persuade me, after all my emotions you moved, after all the help you gave me…if this was the result, I felt I could not complain even if you beat me up." 

"Still," Mia continued. 

"I couldn't deny Nagisa Natsunagi's…zeal for that choice." 

A single tear ran down Mia's face. 

I wondered if Mia cried like this when she couldn't stop Siesta's bet a year and a half ago. 

"That is why I cannot bring myself to meet Senpai. I betrayed her wishes and tried to put Nagisa Natsunagi's zeal first. That is why—" 

"That's not true." 

At that moment, a third person's voice echoed through the observation deck, neither mine nor Mia's. Mia turned around, as though dragged by the voice ripping through the air, and looked next to me. 

"It has been a while, Mia." 

It was the first reunion after a year between the Priestess and the Detective, two allies of justice.