Chapter 3: The Station

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far."

H.P. Lovecraft

The car ride was quiet. Beside him, Cass stared straight ahead, knuckles white on the steering wheel, jaw clenched and mouth trembling as she tried to stay strong for Tadashi's sake.

But he would not have noticed anyway. Tadashi was glaring at the letter clenched in his hands, the one he had neglected to read before leaving for the park with Hiro.

'Why didn't you read it?'

Maybe if he had, he would have known something was up. Maybe he would have opted to keep Hiro home instead. Maybe Hiro would still be here. If he had only taken a spare minute to read the damn letter, maybe all if this could have been avoided. His fingers tightened as he slouched further down in his seat, causing deeper creases to spread across the dingy page. The words had already been burned into his brain, but he continued to reread them.

When the parents came home from church

All their children were gone

They searched and called for them,

They cried and begged,

But it was all to no avail.

The children were never seen again.

He clamped his hand over his eyes, but he did not fight the tears.

But even while all of the facts pointed to what he knew had to be true, Tadashi hoped. He hoped it was not the Origami Killer. Not because he felt optimistic despite Hiro's disappearance, but because he simply could not bring himself to believe it to be true. To accept the truth would be to kill himself in the despair of having lost his only brother. So he stopped thinking about it. He would go to the police station, tell the officers what had happened, then they would find Hiro in a couple hours, and life would go on as it had before.


The lights of the police station were bright. A stark contrast to the gloomy outdoors. Tadashi sat under the glaring lights, with no energy. He simply slumped over on the plastic chair, elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He blinked slowly, stray tears still gathered in his eyes. In the corner of his vision, Aunt Cass bounced her leg so quickly it seemed a blur. She was chewing on her knuckle, as she did whenever she had to get Hiro and himself out of trouble. She had always been there for them.

Then he had to go and screw everything up.

"Mr. Hamada?"

His gaze drifted up to meet a large man with a well-kept beard in a crisp blue shirt and a holster on his waist. "That's me." He hardly recognized his own voice, sore from the screaming and sobbing of the previous hour. The dark skinned man nodded.

"My name is Detective Gueye. I would like to ask you about your brother's disappearance."

Tadashi nodded numbly and stood, eyes unable to focus on any one thing. The Detective turned to Aunt Cass, who had jumped to her feet at his arrival.

"Ms. Hamada, thank you for your patience, but I would like to speak to your nephew alone. I'll be with you in a few minutes." His voice was soft and soothing, filled with the empathy of a man who had suffered similar loss.

Cass glanced at Tadashi, her warm green eyes meeting his dark gaze, searching for reassurance. In that moment, he was a child staring into his mother's fearful eyes. While he had no power to comfort himself, he found that he so desperately wanted to ease his aunt's anxiety.

"I'll be okay, Aunt Cass. Stay here and rest." His words were enough for her to nod and relax just slightly. She watched as her nephew was led away, and collapse back into her seat.


"Take a seat, Mr. Hamada."

Detective Gueye shut his office door behind them, then made his way over to his desk.

"Mr. Hamada, this is my partner, Officer Jayden. He'll be recording the interview, is that alright with you?" Tadashi noded and briefly made eye contact with the man who had been sitting in the office already. Jayden gave Tadashi a nod of acknowledgment before returning his attention to his digital recorder and notepad.

"Now, Tadashi, can I call you that?" The detective began from behind his desk, and the young man nodded numbly. "Alright then. Tadashi, what happened this afternoon. Every detail you can recall is helpful."

His question fell on deaf ears. Tadashi sat there, unresponsive.

"Tadashi? I need you to focus right now, alright?" He leaned across the desk slightly, "Can I get you some water?"

Tadashi sat up a bit straighter. He had no desire to be interrogated, but he was here for Hiro's sake. With this thought, he forced himself to focus. "Um, no sir. I'm sorry, what was the question?"

Gueye chuckled softly, "Just describe the events of the day." Then, more seriously, "In as much detail as possible."

"Um… I… I took my brother, Hiro, to the park. He had been working so hard on his SFIT project, I thought some exercise would do him some good, you know?"

His words were rushed and stuttered.

"We walked around for a while, then we kicked the soccer ball around. Just like any other day."

Recalling the events in the police station, it was as if the whole situation was becoming real all over again.

"He took off his jacket at one point. I told him not to because it was going to rain and he would catch a cold, but of course he didn't listen. He's so thin, I'm surprised he doesn't get sick more often. Stubborn kid, probably wouldn't tell me even if he did." He ran a hand across his face. and cleared his throat before continuing. "Anyway, he threw the jacket on the ground. He kicked the ball hard, too hard, and it went soaring. He went to get it, and then… Then he was gone."

The detective listened patiently the entire time, not showing the slightest bit of aggravation or apathy even when Tadashi had rambled on. "That was the last time you saw your brother?"

"Yes."

Jayden stared at the recorder, hardly looking up.

"So he just disappeared straight from the park?"

"Yes. Well, I think so. I mean, the ball went over the fence, but not too far… I stayed on the grass." A grunt of frustration left his chest and he squeezed his eyes shut. "I should have gone with him. I'm always so protective of him, but he's fourteen. He hates it when I hover. I figured he could at least get a damn soccer ball on his own!" Tadashi's anger grew with every word. At himself, at his blackouts, at the rain, at the whole goddamn world. "Damn it! I never should have let him out of my sight!" His posture collapsed in defeat.

"Tadashi," The detective reached over to squeeze the young man's shoulder lightly, bringing him back to the present, "I know this is hard. I can only imagine how you must be feeling right now, but this is not your fault. These things happen, and from what I gather it's not because you were neglectful. Now, will you be alright? Do you need some time?"

Tadashi breathed deeply, trying his hardest to calm his racing mind. "No. No, I'm sorry." He mumbled through his hands.

"No need." Gueye allowed a small smile to ease the tension. "Now, do you remember what time you arrived at the park? Be as specific as you can." Tadashi took another deep breath before he spoke.

"It… It must have been… four, four fifteen. Yeah, we left the diner a few minutes after four, and it's about a ten minute walk to the park."

"Do you remember what he was wearing when he disappeared?"

"Of course. His favorite shirt. It's a red tee with a Gundam on the front, or a transformer, I guess. Khaki shorts, knee length… black converse with yellow laces." Tadashi chuckled half-heartedly, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "He wore the same thing almost every day."

"One second," Jayden spoke for the first time since the interview began, "You said you had taken your brother to the park around four fifteen, and I assume it wasn't long after that he disappeared?"

"No…maybe a half an hour later?"

"So the kid disappeared at around four forty-five. But you didn't report him missing until eight-thirty. That's almost four hours. Why wait so long?" Jayden's tone was innocent enough, but the skeptical look on his face made it very clear that he should answer carefully.

Tadashi's heart stopped at the question. Why hadn't he reported Hiro's disappearance immediately? Well, he'd been God-knows-where suffering from a blackout, before he woke up in the middle of the street blocks away from where his brother had been. But he couldn't tell that to the police.

"I…" His heart was beating a mile a minute. Should he tell the truth? The blackouts had been a secret between Hiro and himself, and this was the worst possible scenario for said secret to come to light. The police would certainly tell Aunt Cass…

"I was in a panic. I was running around searching for him." At least that was partially true. Aunt Cass did not need any more stress right now. He had done enough already.

"What about any difficulties? Did your brother have any reason to run away?"

"No!" He caught himself yelling, and took a couple breaths, "No, back then, he would sneak out occasionally, but he would never just run off without saying anything. He knows how much Aunt Cass and I worry. Besides he stopped getting into trouble once he decided to apply to The Institute."

"He stopped getting into trouble? What kind of trouble would he get into?" Jayden probed further.

"Well… Look Hiro's a smart kid. He has all this intelligence and innovation and once he finished high school he had no outlet for it. So he took up bot-fighting behind our backs. But once he decided to go to college, he gave up on it."

"Was he any good at it?" Jayden asked.

"The best." Tadashi said with a touch of pride.

"Hm." Jayden mused, "He must have made a lot of enemies then. That crowd doesn't take kindly to newcomers. Especially if they're better than them."

Tadashi's blood ran cold. "You don't think… Oh God… who knows what they'll do to him…"

"Now, Tadashi, nothing is certain yet. That was just speculation." Detective Gueye shot Jayden a pointed glance, unhappy at the other's bluntness. "For all we know this could have nothing to do with bot fighting. But Tadashi…" Gueye pursed his lips in thought, as though he were getting ready to say something he truly did not want to believe. "I have to let you know… The profile… We can't say for sure yet, because some pieces of the puzzle are still missing. But this does fit the MO* of the Origami Killer."

If Tadashi's blood was cold before, now it was frozen in his veins. Until this moment, Tadashi had truly forgotten about that possibility. The detective continued to talk, but Tadashi only heard bits and pieces as Gueye and Jayden went back and forth. His mind raced as he heard them put together the evidence that he himself had not long ago considered.

"...a rainy night in September..."

"...between the ages of eleven and fifteen..."

"...without a trace…"

"...but there was no origami figure this time..."

Tadashi shot up in his seat at the mention of the origami figure.

'Oh shit...'

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Wait. When Hiro disappeared I was running around everywhere looking for him and I ended up back at the park and I found his hoodie and our soccer ball, and…" Tadashi began to frantically pat and dig into his pockets. He froze as he brushed his finger along the soft crease of a crumpled piece of damp paper. He slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket. "This...was on top of it." He opened his hand to reveal the folded paper which had once been an origami figure. The creases were still visible, but the shape had been crushed beyond recognition. "It was a crane. An origami crane."

Detective Gueye stared at the deformed crane with wide eyes before gingerly taking it from Tadashi's palm, almost as if it would explode if he moved too quickly. He inspected it carefully, his expression growing darker by the second. Tadashi looked down at the figure, and back at Gueye. This time, he saw his eyes brimming with sadness. Gueye and Jayden exchanged an understanding look, with the younger cop giving a small nod. This was not the first time they had seen this.

"Tadashi, thank you for your cooperation." The detective stood from his chair and made his way to the door. "That's all we have to ask you for now. If we find any clues or think of any other questions, we'll give you a call." He opened the door to see the young man out. Tadashi continued to stare at the figure, which was now sitting on the large wooden desk in front of him. He could hear the click of the digital recorder being turned off.

"Do you think...could it be the Origami Killer?" His question was barely a whisper, but the detective heard it nonetheless. There was a few moments of silence.

"Now, Tadashi… It's completely possible that Hiro could have run away. I'm sure we will find him in a few hours-"

"But what if he didn't?" Tadashi shot up from his seat, desperate for a straight answer. His full attention was on the detective now. "What if the Origami Killer took my brother?" His voice cracked, the full reality of that possibility sinking in yet again. But this time he could not escape the truth. Detective Gueye closed his eyes for a moment, as if running over all of the possible scenarios in his head. He inhaled sharply.

"If that's true...then we have about four days to find Hiro alive."

*MO- Modus Operandi or a particular way or method of doing something. Often used to describe particular patterns of behavior in criminals.

A/N: -Poofs back into existence- I heard y'all wanted a new chapter? Here's yo chapter. Seriously though thank you all for being so patient with me. My productivity levels have been nonexistent lately. I thought i would get a lot done over the summer but ¯\_()_/¯Anyway hopefully the next chapter won't take nearly as long. Reviews much appreciated, and feel free to PM me about anything really!

PS. I noticed in a previous chapter i had Tadashi mention that the age of the victims was 13-15. It is 11-15. Also apparently i made up the word interlogue but poetic license or whatever. I'll change it to interlude eventually. Probably. Humor me guys.