V1Ch1: The Unfading Scar part 2

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Translator: Soafp

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After his sister's body was found, four more girls became victims.

He—Sho Amo—even as a boy, threw himself into the pursuit of the killer.

He retraced the paths to each site where bodies had been discovered, connecting the locations by lines on a map, scouring every corner of the surrounding areas on foot. But he could not find a single trace of the culprit.

Until the murderer was caught, the victims—and his sister—would never be at peace.

Sho refused to give up. He questioned neighbors again and again, visited places that seemed suspicious, and even ventured into dark woods and riverbanks.

“Please… stop doing such reckless things. If I were to lose you too, I won’t be able to bear it…”

The one who scolded him was none other than his mother.

“I'll find the b*****d, no matter what. I'll never forgive him. I'll kill him with my own hands…!”

Sho's hatred for the killer was immense. The man who had stolen his peaceful life, who had taken his irreplaceable sister—Sho's heart burned with loathing.

Even so, his mother tried to stop him.

“Please… stop thinking about revenge. I… no, your father too—we already carry too many wounds. I just want you to grow up normally…”

“But…”

Sho could not accept it.

Were they really supposed to do nothing after his sister had been murdered?

Was it right to leave everything to the police, who seemed to be making no progress at all? Would the case ever be solved like that?

If the investigation wouldn't move forward, then at least he wanted to find a lead himself. That thought consumed him.

Sho and his mother clashed.

“We, the bereaved families, should talk to each other more, and get the community involved. Call for information, cooperate with the police. Isn't that the best thing we can do?”

It was his father who spoke those words.

“I'm bitter too. I want to kill the culprit myself… I feel the same as you, Sho. But would your sister really want that? Do you think she'd want to see our family's future drowned in hatred?”

His father's words brought his sister's face to Sho's mind.

—I don't care if I don't go to university. As long as the family smiles together and lives happily, that's my greatest joy.—

His sister, who had always cherished her family above all else. Her words came back to him.

“…Alright. I'll do as you say, Dad. I won't do anything reckless anymore.”

Sho looked his parents in the eyes and said it firmly.

From that day, his father reached out to other bereaved families and founded a Victims' Association. They supported one another and worked tirelessly toward the arrest of the killer.

Posting flyers, speaking to passersby on the street, exchanging information regularly with the police…

Day and night, the families worked with everything they had.

And yet, as another victim was found, the association grew in number. Television reports began to cover the case more extensively, public interest rising with each new tragedy.

With that came more attention on the association, and an increase in information sent to the police.

“…Only after so many victims, and finally now…”

The families' feelings were complex.

Public interest always rose only after more victims appeared.

In reality, a murder in the countryside had less chance of being reported than even a petty dine-and-dash in Tokyo. The families were disheartened.

The investigation crawled forward. They couldn't even narrow down a suspect profile—no, they couldn't even bring one to light.

And soon, society's eyes turned on the bereaved families themselves.

“Maybe the victims' families staged this whole thing?”

“The family of the first victim is the one killing the rest.”

“Look at that sweet-looking mother—she's the real culprit.”

Cruel, baseless rumors spread. Sho's heart was overwhelmed with indignation.

“Why must the families, who've already been mercilessly robbed of their loved ones, be subjected to such attacks…?”

His anger turned toward the reckless judgment of society. But it didn't stop there.

“Maybe those girls had shady pasts themselves.”

“The fifth victim looked like a troublemaker anyway. Bet it was some guy drama.”

At last, people began fabricating ugly speculations about the victims themselves. The bereaved families could not stay silent.

Led by Sho's father, the association held a press conference.

“Please… say what you will about us. But don't disgrace our children, who were innocent, who were murdered so mercilessly. Please, spare them that humiliation!!”

Sho watched his father bow his head deeply, speaking through tears. Something inside him felt like it crumbled.

(So in this country, people who live honestly are treated unfairly. Even when their family is stolen away, society won't stand beside them. Instead, they think it's your fault, that you deserved it… How vile.)

It was then that Sho gave up on everything.

Maybe the killer would be caught.

Maybe a valuable lead would appear.

From that day, Sho abandoned every “maybe.”

Just when Sho was about to let go of it all—

“Sho… they caught the murderer. He's a father—with a daughter your age.”

His father, grief etched across his face, told him the case was over. The ending came far more abruptly than Sho had expected.

The killer was a company executive, living in the same town as Sho. His home, too, was right there in the same community.

“To think he lived so close, for years, without being caught…”

The bereaved families were shaken. The man who had killed seven girls had lived among them all along, wearing a mask of normalcy. How many times had Sho unknowingly passed the killer in the street?

That truth carved deeper grief, anger, and scars into the families' hearts.

Why was the killer finally discovered after years of hiding? The key had been a report from his own daughter—Sho's age.

“My father… might be the killer.”

With that single statement, police began watching Togo Amamiya. Ironically, it was the day after the seventh victim had been found.

When police requested he come in voluntarily, Amamiya said,

“So, you've finally reached me…”

He confessed with startling ease. The case ended in an unforeseen way.

Surrounded by police at his home, Amamiya surrendered—smiling.

Seeing that, Sho's father lost his composure. He hurled the remote at the TV showing Amamiya's face.

“I didn't want the police to take him. I wanted to kill him with my own hands…!”

Sho had never seen his father like that before.

Amamiya had sown fear and sorrow in countless people, only to be caught with ease in the end. The case would go down in Tochigi Prefecture's history as the most brutal, inhuman series of murders ever recorded.

The killer, Amamiya, was sentenced to death in court. He now awaited execution.

But the wounds of the bereaved remained unhealed as the years went by.

Gradually, the case faded from the memories of the public.

Sho, meanwhile, advanced through high school and university. He graduated and began working at an advertising agency in Utsunomiya, the prefectural capital of Tochigi.

Though only in his second year at the company, his persistence and dedication made him someone his colleagues relied on, even as a young worker.

His office was a twenty-minute drive from home. Unlike many young men of his generation, he chose not to live alone, but to commute from his parents' house.

He couldn't leave his parents by themselves. Every time he looked at his sister's photo, he feared what thoughts might come to them if left alone.

That's why he stayed.

Even when it came to university, he had chosen a national school within the prefecture and passed the entrance exam.

There was no need to leave the prefecture—

For Sho, the life he had now was enough.