As Ilaya cried, Michizugawa had a thought
'Maybe she's not the one who butchered that killer. Maybe it's the Yakuza'
Somehow, he knew that this woman that he's comforting is one of the outlaws. He knew because the only organization that moved that night was only the Yakuza. He's a police officer so he knew the tacit agreement between the law enforcement and the underworld killers
Still. Michizugawa said to Ilaya who calmed down now
"Youre part of an underworld organization aren't you?"
Ilaya abruptly straightened up as she said
"What are you talking about? Underworld? What?"
Michizugawa saw her immediate transformation from being sad to being confused. Of course, he knew that it's the habit of criminals to pretend not to know what their crime is. He laughed and said to Ilaya
"Hahaha. Don't worry, I'm not a police officer right now. I'm just a friend visiting a celebration, so you didn't need to worry"
Ilaya still pretended not to understand as she said
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. But if you say you're right. Then, you're right"
Michizugawa laughed loudly as he said to her
"Young lady. You're really funny. Don't you know that I have a friend in the Yakuza? His name is Yamato"
Ilaya became stupified as she hurriedly asked
"Eh? You know Yamato? Are you his friend? Or family!?"
Michizugawa smiled and said to her
"Yamato is a common name. It's a test. So you're really a part of the Yakuza"
As Ilaya heard that, she nearly used her power to bury the evidence. Her chopstick nearly stabbed his eyes, but she stopped herself in the nick of time. She then said to him
"You know. No, you didn't know, but you nearly died by my hands. Don't do that again alright?"
Ilaya warned as she really nearly moved her hand to stab him. Of course, Ilaya noticed the movement of his arm on his side. She had planned to silence him to prevent herself from being caught, but when Ilaya noticed the pistol pointing at her under the table. She cancelled her plan
'He's really an elite officer. He anticipated the answer that I'll be giving and made a preparation for my potential action. How annoying'
Then, she realized something
'Stab him? To silence him? Bury the evidence!? I'm really drunk now!'
Ilaya nearly made an unforgivable mistake due to her drunkenness. She looks at the wine in horror and finally knows the terror of being drunk. Michizugawa put his gun in his holster and said to her teasingly
"You've just threatened my life with your words. I can send you to jail with the charge of grave threat. Hahaha, you better stop drinking now"
Ilaya nodded as she put down her glass. Then, she said to Michizugawa
"Don't tell the owner alright"
Michizugawa then thought for a bit before saying
"I might have or might not. But that depends on whether you answer my question or not"
Ilaya grits her teeth as she asked him
"What is it?"
Michizugawa leaned forward and asked her
"That serial killer. Who killed him?"
Ilaya froze and stared at Michizugawa in shock, then, she blurted out
"Why are you still digging up the past? Isn't it over?"
Michizugawa said to her and said
"For me, that's the only unresolved case in my career. That night when you were kidnapped. We were supposed to rescue you and kill the serial killer, but we were attacked, so we didn't manage to get to there in time"
Then, Michizugawa said in a confused tone
"But… when we saw the serial killer's body. It was savagely mutilated that sent chills even to the coroner who studied dead bodies for decades"
Ilaya looked down and trembled. She vividly felt the warm blood in her body again. The smell of food on the table was overpowered by the fishy stench. Then, Michizugawa continued
"I felt that something didn't add up. The type of bodies that the Yakuza dispose of always died in gunshots. They didn't have the habit of breaking the bodies and stabbing them for more that 30"
Michizugawa then stared at Ilaya and said
"The only one left that killed the serial killer is the one that had an enormous grudge to him. The type that has the sufficient motive to do that horrifying thing. So, is it-"
"It's me!"
Ilaya looked up and glared at him as she yelled. With tears streaming from her eyes, she continued
"I killed him. I did the horrifying thing that you said! What now? Are you happy!? Now that you know, are you going to arrest me!?"
Ilaya couldn't control her emotions anymore due to her loneliness, sorrow, guilt, horror, pain, and mostly, due to her being drunk. She cried loudly as her emotions burst like a broken dam. Michizugawa was startled by her loud crying and he get worried
He looked back in the entrance, expecting to see his friend, but thankfully, he's still not here. He sighed and said to the crying Ilaya
"I'm not going to arrest you. It's self defense. I just wanted to know what truly happened. I'm sorry if I scared you"
Ilaya's crying slowly turned into sobs. Then, as she wanted to explain what happened, when the door at the entrance opened. They both looked at the door as the owner returned
The owner entered his restaurant and noticed the gloomy atmosphere. He noticed that Ilaya was crying and he immediately glared at his friend
"Michizugawa. Explain"
Michizugawa scratched his head as he didn't know what to say. Then, he said to him
"Our topic got sidetracked and it leads to the serial killer"
The owner sat in the chair as he said to him angrily
"You broke your promise. I'm starting to regret inviting you here"
Michizugawa opened his mouth but didn't say anything. Then, Ilaya spoke for him
"Don't get angry at him Owner. I'm the one who questioned him about what happened. So it's on me"
Ilaya sighed and said to them
"Now that we're in this topic. I think it's better if I explain what actually happened to me at that time. Maybe, telling someone about my experience will help me too"
The Owner looked concernedly at Ilaya and said
"You don't need to tell us if you're uncomfortable. But, it's indeed effective to share your trouble to others and not just keep it to your chest"
Michizugawa nodded and added absentmindedly
"We're both police officers, we can help you with your trauma"
Michizugawa felt something was off, then, he opened his eyes wide and felt his friend glare. The owner said annoyingly to Michizugawa
"Your tongue is really loose. Why don't you use them to clean something"
Michizugawa flinched from his words and didn't said anything. Then, unsurprisingly, Ilaya suddenly latched on that detail and she shockingly asked
"You're a police officer Owner!?"
Owner sighed and looked away from Michizugawa. He soon said to Ilaya after hesitating
"Yes. I was once a police officer. But I resigned. Alright. That's enough talking about me. Will you tell us your story, Ilaya?"
Ilaya nodded as she said to the owner
"I can tell you. But don't tell nee-chan alright? You two can handle it, but Mars can't take it"
As Ilaya saw Owner nodded, she started to recount her tale. In truthful and disturbing manner