"Your real name is Yoshikage Kira! You're a murderer!"
As the words left his mouth, Hayato felt his heart nearly stop. He was so tense he could barely breathe. But this was his chance—a chance to record proof of Kira's crimes. He knew his own strength was laughable compared to this man's.
But even if the odds were a sliver... Hayato refused to give up. He had to find evidence of Yoshikage Kira's crimes and get that videotape into the hands of someone who could bring him to justice.
"Is that so? ...You already know everything."
Kosaku Kawajiri's face was blank, his voice flat, but something volatile flickered behind his eyes.
Hayato was on the verge of panic—but in truth, Kira was even more rattled than he was.
—This is bad.
—Bites the Dust... I activated it too late.
Kosaku Kawajiri's exterior betrayed nothing, but Yoshikage Kira's soul within was already gnawing at his nails in frantic agitation. Ever since awakening the Third Bomb countless loops ago, he'd never felt this unhinged. And what made it truly unbearable was that the cause of all this trouble was a mere eleven-year-old elementary schooler.
For Yoshikage Kira, today was already his second loop.
In the previous cycle, he'd failed to suppress his nature. He'd stormed into the apartment, killed the couple, and taken the woman's hand. But as he was leaving, he discovered that Hayato had been tailing and filming him the entire time.
Later that night, Kira had cornered Hayato in the bathroom while the boy was bathing and, after a round of "father-son bonding," confirmed the worst. The difference was that in the previous loop, Hayato had never mentioned reading the diary.
(③)
In the previous loop's world, Kira would confront Hayato in the family bathroom a few hours from now, Hayato's secret filming would be exposed, and Kira would curse his own carelessness. Yet he wouldn't kill the boy—because if Hayato died, it could draw the attention of Inori, Jotaro Kujo, and the rest. The peaceful life he'd clawed his way toward would be over.
If he could just hold out a few more days, wait until those people left Morioh, he'd be free to return to his true self.
Kira couldn't let everything he'd sacrificed go to waste. So he'd voluntarily activated Bites the Dust, detonating himself to rewind time by twenty-four hours. And today—in this second loop—he'd skipped the apartment entirely. Instead, he'd been lying in wait here to intercept Hayato, planning to lead with a confrontation and then smooth things over. Feign innocence. Apply just enough fatherly pressure to dispel the boy's suspicions.
What he hadn't anticipated was Hayato calling out his real name to his face.
"When exactly... when did you see the diary?"
Kira fought to restrain his emotions, chanting inwardly: Stay calm. Stay calm.
"A long time ago." Hayato held his camera steady, voice ringing with conviction. "I swapped your briefcase for an identical one. I read about your special ability in there."
"I know that no matter what I do, you can rewind time and erase those mistakes!"
The boy was tiny next to the man. Yet right now, he'd become the most terrifying enemy in Yoshikage Kira's eyes. Every word from his mouth was a blade driven straight into Kira's chest.
"So I held back! I didn't act the moment I found out. I waited—patiently. As long as more than twenty-four hours passed between me reading that diary and making my move, it wouldn't matter how many times you rewound time. You can't undo the fact that I've already read it! Yoshikage Kira!"
—This... brat!
Kira's teeth ground together.
—What is this? This feeling of defeat—!?
—Damn it! I never should have kept something so dangerous lying around.
But he had no choice. The loops stretched beyond counting. What looked like twenty days to the outside world had felt like close to half a year for Yoshikage Kira. God only knew how many resets he'd endured. If he didn't record what happened each cycle after rewinding, he'd lose his mind.
"Think about it carefully—during the entire time I was following you, I didn't make a single mistake! But you tracked me to this apartment and came straight for me, as if you'd known I'd be here all along. You've already activated Bites the Dust, haven't you!"
"...!"
Kira was speechless.
"I remind myself every second of every day: no matter what happens, stay calm. Analyze whether your actions make logical sense. In the previous world, you must have caught me in the act. You followed those two here because you wanted to use your bomb ability to kill them!"
"And I recorded it all on camera! You reset time to undo that!"
Hayato was speaking in a torrent now, laying bare how he—a child who wasn't even a Stand user—had set the trap that Yoshikage Kira had walked right into.
"So I've already beaten you! Right now, it's too late—no matter how many times you reset, you can never change the fact that I've read your diary! Because the exact timing is something you can never pin down!"
"You were outplayed by an eleven-year-old! I know your identity. I know what you've done. If you kill me, you'll be exposed to the very people you're terrified of!"
"You little brat!"
The crushing weight of defeat sent Kira into a blind rage. He would kill Hayato. Erase him silently with Primary Bomb. The consequences could wait—right now, he needed this infuriating child to shut up.
Kira summoned Killer Queen. Hayato couldn't see it—he was an ordinary person without a Stand. But at that precise moment, a voice rang out from behind them.
"What are you doing here! Bastard!"
Kira whipped around, stunned. The newcomer was the very punk he'd been planning to kill—the man who'd started trouble on the train. He'd inexplicably walked out of the apartment and stumbled onto this scene. How was that possible?
"You stalking us or something? Huh? You got a death wish!?"
"..."
Kira, already blinded by fury, could not tolerate this provocation.
He'd already decided to kill. One more body made no difference—especially this piece of trash who'd humiliated him on the train twice. Kira changed targets. Hayato was right here. Killing both of them wouldn't take five seconds.
"Hey! Wh-what are you—"
(③)
The pushover salaryman from the train, rather than backing away from his threats, was walking straight toward him. The punk's bluster evaporated.
Click.
Kira and Killer Queen pressed their hands against the man's face in unison. There was a crisp sound—like the flick of a light switch—and the man's body swelled violently, then burst apart in silent obliteration.
At last. Two weeks of suffocated restraint, the humiliation of being outwitted by a child—all of it finally released in that single instant. Now Yoshikage Kira finally recognized a truth: a man cannot fight his own nature. Next he would kill Hayato, then find a way to evade Inori's pursuit.
And if he were truly cornered, he could always activate the Fourth Bomb, Great Days, and start over from scratch.
But that would mean throwing away everything he'd worked for—the last thing Kira wanted. He'd nearly forgotten what a peaceful life even tasted like. Across infinite loops of death and rebirth, he'd suffered beyond measure. Now, at long last, he'd carved out a quiet existence as Kosaku Kawajiri. He refused to go back to that living hell called "Inori."
Only as a last resort. Suffering was still better than dying.
VROOOOM—!
The sudden roar of an engine made Kira's entire body jolt.
He spun around, but all he could see was the motorcycle already tearing away—its stretched red taillight streaking into the distance. And on the back seat: Hayato. In the few seconds it had taken to kill the punk, someone had snatched the boy and bolted.