BONUS CHAPTER #5
Sawaki Kohei had no idea where this thing had come from.
To this day, he still couldn't tell whether it was just a diver in a costume, or some kind of mythical creature. All he knew was that the mermaid's gentle, friendly eyes looked oddly familiar — enough to make him think of a certain detective.
…If he remembered correctly, Jiangxia had been looking at him with the exact same expression the whole time.
Before this, Sawaki had thought it was just a tactic — a psychological trick detectives used to lull suspects into a false sense of security so they'd reveal their crimes.
But now he realized: that wasn't it at all.
Jiangxia, and this mermaid, weren't pretending. The kindness and friendliness in their eyes weren't fake — they were utterly sincere.
It's just… that emotion didn't come from a place of equality.
Sawaki suddenly understood — that wasn't the look of one human being at another. No. In the eyes of Jiangxia and this mermaid, he was something else entirely. Something like a clam that had been buried in the sand for years — the kind you cut open, not because you care about the clam, but because you want to pry out the pearl inside.
Once that realization clicked, Sawaki was half-convinced this mermaid really wasn't human, but some unknown species.
What he couldn't wrap his head around was why Jiangxia occasionally looked at him the same way.
Wasn't Jiangxia a famous detective, who abhorred evil, obsessed with catching criminals, and solved cases at lightning speed?
All those reporters and police officers must be blind.
Why has no one noticed what kind of person Jiangxia really is?!
Sawaki Kohei, legs already numb, glanced at the corpses of Asahi Katsuyoshi and Osanai Nana, who were now drifting by like a couple of melon-eating bystanders, and let out a sharp, bitter laugh.
He turned to the mermaid in the bubble, gritting his teeth. "You and that detective — you're in the same group, aren't you?! What the hell are you?!"
He didn't expect an answer from a fish that clearly saw him as prey. But in the face of death, a man has to get a few words in, or it just doesn't sit right.
To his surprise, the mermaid seemed to look through him and — weirdly — appeared to be in a good mood. After a brief pause, it actually began to explain, "We're human."
"We're just a bunch of normal people walking around everywhere."
Then, under Sawaki Kohei's stunned gaze, the mermaid shifted its eyes, raised its arms, and gestured like it was cradling something enormous and invisible.
Then, in a strange rhythm, almost like a children's rhyme, it elegantly passed the pot:
"You can think of us as a mirror — in front of good people, we're good people; in front of passersby, we're passersby; in front of you… we're…"
The mermaid looked down at the invisible bundle in its arms and gave a smile so faint it was almost not there — but it was there.
"We're the ones most like you. And, of course, your most loyal accomplices… right up until the last moment."
…
A minute later, Sawaki Kohei ran out of oxygen.
Jiangxia hauled him out of the car and dumped him alongside the other two corpses, making him the third dead body drifting through the underwater restaurant.
Actually, his oxygen tank had a little time left.
But right after the mermaid's speech, Sawaki had gotten all worked up. He took one final gulp of air and roared out his questions — like, how could a creature that had been trying to kill him now claim to be his "most loyal accomplice"?
The mermaid, offended by his tone, coughed from anger and let him drown.
Sawaki, realizing there was no logical way to escape, simply gave up. The ghosts clinging to his legs also released him once he died.
Jiangxia scooped up everything worth keeping, looked at Sawaki Kohei's corpse and the scales on his own tail, and sighed.
"This disguise is actually pretty cool," he thought. "Too bad if I show up like this too often, it'll blow the worldview of normal people."
…Guess I can only wear it in front of folks like Sawaki Kohei. People who won't leak secrets.
Well, and those whose worldviews are already... broken.
Jiangxia swam out through a gap with the murderous spirit and ghost in tow, then dismissed his puppet body and handed the spirit and ghost to the mermaid ghost, asking her to take them back.
As for Jiangxia himself, he returned to his real body.
…
Asahi's crystal restaurant had most of its structure underwater, but a good chunk still stuck up above the sea.
By now, a group of survivors had made it out. They floated to the surface, then clambered up the slightly crooked stairs of the building and escaped to the roof.
Ran Mouri sat by the edge, pounding her chest and coughing up a few mouthfuls of seawater, eyes on the rippling sea, brows furrowed.
Just now, she'd been holding Jiangxia with one arm, covering his mouth with the other. Midway through, she thought she'd started choking.
But now...
Ran checked her breathing. Her airway felt fine — no discomfort. Which was weird, because when you choke, it hurts.
She thought for a moment, confused. Maybe she'd just been too anxious and imagined it? Probably just accidentally swallowed a few gulps. Choking shouldn't feel like that.
At least Jiangxia, who was sitting next to her slumped over like a defective person on standby, didn't seem to have choked either.
Ran felt a spark of pride — not only did she make it out unscathed, she also managed to save someone. Pretty impressive, actually.
…
Everyone who made it to the roof seemed okay — except for Nishina, whose swimming skills were subpar. Even with help, he'd passed out.
They rushed to perform first aid, and once Nishina finally coughed up water and regained consciousness, someone noticed something off.
Inspector Megure looked around, stunned. "Where's Mr. Sawaki?!"
Everyone froze and glanced around. They thought hard — back in the restaurant, when they were preparing to dive out, Sawaki Kohei had dived too. But now...
It looked like he never made it to the surface.
Something must've happened along the way.
Kogoro Mouri dove back into the sea, scanning the water beneath them. No one.
He was about to risk re-entering the submerged restaurant to check, but when he looked down, all he saw were rows and rows of shattered windows along the bottom. Each one looked the same. Back when they'd escaped, no one had bothered looking back — they'd just wanted out as fast as possible. Now, it was impossible to tell where they'd come from.
At that moment, a ship came speeding toward them.
The explosion had been massive — half the crystal restaurant was gone. With a blast that big, they didn't even need to call the police. Search and rescue helicopters and boats were already swarming the area.
The exhausted survivors explained what happened and handed over the search efforts to the professionals, hoping Sawaki could be found.
*Goal #1: Top 200 fanfics published within the last 31 - 90 days by POWER STONES.
Progress: 15/60(approx) for 10 BONUS CHAPTERS
Goal #2: One BONUS CHAPTER per review for the first 10 REVIEWS.
Progress:2/10*