Chapter 58

Chapter 58 is the fifty-eighth chapter of the Dead Mount Death Play manga.

Official Blurb
Habaki's finally been dealt with, but he seems to have left behind more questions than answers…

Synopsis
Having made his escape via the walkways of the subterranean metro, Higuro ends his call with Habaki by remarking on how stupid it was for Habaki to say his own name out loud, speculating that Habaki's end is nigh—if so, he hopes Habaki is killed before the man can betray him. He proceeds to board a bus once aboveground and finds a seat, mind preoccupied with laying low and a plan to 'lose' his mobile phone within a few hours' time.

Said mobile phone abruptly grows hot to the touch, so hot that Higuro drops it. An elderly woman bends over to pick up the unlocked phone—only to tap at it in a frenzy, as if typing or accessing files. When Higuro reaches for his phone in alarm, a man seizes his wrist and then releases it, droningly pointing out Habaki's fumble. The chorus of other passengers begin congruously accusing Higuro of being Sabaramond's eyes and ears, hands, and feet. Though one or more of the Fire-Breathing Bugs wants to catch Higuro, the bus driver Bug naysays this due to the risk of "burning the wrong plaaace." The driver proceeds to haltingly chant a standard reminder to remain patient and sitting while the vehicle is in motion. Helpless, Higuro second-guesses his decision to flee the warehouse.

In the Abandoned Building, Misaki Sakimiya checks in with Corpse God via mobile phone while their companions attend to first aid: as Takumi Kuruya wraps the puncture wounds in his legs with gauze, Sayo Shinoyama assists Xiaoyu Lei with his right arm—a cybernetic prosthetic that has been severed near the elbow—by offering packing tape as a temporary adhesive. Xiaoyu asks if she is not surprised by his prosthetic, but Sayo has already guessed it must be Shinoyama Company technology; furthermore, she already suspected Xiaoyu was keeping secrets from her. This does not bother her; secrets are trivial compared to what she knows about Xiaoyu, which is that Xiaoyu has been working so hard to protect her and the others. Sayo thanks him with a gentle hug, but Xiaoyu flushes with the shame of knowing he was actually acting for his own benefit.

Misaki hands the cell phone to Takumi. On the other end, Corpse God—currently taking shelter from the rain in a stairwell—has handed his phone to Lisa Kuraki, who, like Corpse God, has been updated on what transpired with Takumi and the others. Clarissa asks Takumi if his leg injuries will be explicable to a doctor, but Takumi thinks not; he is sure most doctors would realize the wounds must have come from a fight. Clarissa tells him to visit Youtoukorou later so that 'Kazami' can treat him, firmly rejecting Takumi's attempts to brush his injuries off: "Injuries worry me," she says. "An injury that's not treated properly...can come back to haunt you later."

Miyabi Hosorogi, clipped to Corpse God's pocket, hears this and frets that Clarissa's vision must be as "[he] feared" after all. He then requests Corpse God ask Clarissa a question on his behalf without letting Clarissa know it is his question. Corpse God thus clumsily asks Clarissa how she knew about this Habaki, given the person he (Corpse God) overheard the police discussing was someone named 'Hosorogi'. Clarissa replies she was only planting roots—it was, in fact, "the police who reached him first." Shocked, Hosorogi wonders who she could be talking about.

The scene flashes back to earlier that night, when Danjō Tozawa stopped mid-pursuit of Habaki, in the pouring rain, to place or take a phone call. A phone call, it is revealed, to Clarissa: Tozawa informs her he planted a GPS ship in Habaki's sleeve when the two of them made physical contact. Clarissa asks if Tozawa is certain this is what he wants; Tozawa replies in the affirmative. Nevertheless aware that Luis Kuraki—her (grand)father—once saved Tozawa's wife, Clarissa insistently questions if Tozawa is betraying Tsubaki Iwanome due to feeling indebted to a Kuraki like her.

Here, Tozawa replies in the negative. He says this is a personal decision based on his desire to see Tsubaki Iwanome become the upstanding police officer Tozawa could not; to see all of Comps 3 walk the "straight and narrow" until they have matured. As an aside, he does not believe the latest incident falls under Comps 3's 'troublemaker' jurisdiction.

In the present, Tozawa stands apart from the rest of Comps 3 while they receive fresh instructions from Iwanome: to track down Habaki's call logs and check precinct and street surveillance cameras with the goal of identifying any contacts of Habaki and the police officer who committed suicide. In the meantime, he and Kōzaburō Arase will hunt down what information they can. Arase comments that Iwanome is "pulling out the stops"; sheepishly admitting he is still a little emotional, Iwanome explains his new approach of 'having Hosorogi come to them' instead of trying to futilely 'catch up' to him.

By this, he means Comps 3 will forcefully "smoke out" the organization to which Habaki belonged—something to do with 'Sabaramond'—and arrest everyone who was controlling the other law enforcement personnel. Emotionally speaking, he means he wants to create a place that Hosorogi will "come home to." Where the other Comps 3 members have been chiming in throughout Iwanome's speech, Tozawa has simply listened quietly, his expression at peace.

Meanwhile in the stairwell, Corpse God asks if there is anything Clarissa would want to tell Hosorogi in the hypothetical event Corpse God someday found Hosorogi's soul, ignoring Hosorogi's startled protest from his pocket. Clarissa muses that "Miyabi-san," a man whose wishes she trampled on, would not like to see what she has become: "someone who's taken the mediators to the dark side," as her grandfather put it. Nevertheless, she does not regret who she is or the path she has taken.

As Clarissa continues on to say there is "just one thing" she would say to him, Iwanome simultaneously tells Arase that there is "one thing [he] should say" to Hosorogi 'first'. For Clarissa—her expression soft—that "one thing" is "Farewell...my beloved." For Iwanome—smiling wide—that "first thing" is "I look forward to continuing working with you...!"

In an undisclosed location, Higuro rouses to find himself bound by his wrists and ankles to a chair. He asks the crowd of umbrella-toting Fire-Breathing Bugs in front of him what is going on. On cue, the crowd parts for Phantom Solitaire, who approaches him with an ominous chuckle and a knowing, "Hm. I see you're awake."

Then he actually sees Higuro. After a pregnant pause, Solitaire turns to the Bugs, gestures impotently at Higuro, and demands to know who the man is.

Trivia

 * Inconsistency: The official English translation of this chapter has Clarissa refer to her father as "Luis Kuraki" on page 13. However, the translation of Chapter 48 indicates she was Luis Kuraki's granddaughter. Since Clarissa later refers to her grandfather again in this chapter on page 19, though not by name, the use of 'father' on page 13 may be a typo.

Referbacks

 * When Iwanome says he and Arase will hunt down information, the accompanying visual displays Hosorogi's note about a 'signpost'. This is the note that Hosorogi wrote for Iwanome circa Chapter 23 and Chapter 24.
 * To the invisible hands incident in Chapter 34.
 * Higuro was last seen in Chapter 49, when he was calling Habaki while walking through the underground.
 * To several moments in Chapter 53: to Tozawa flipping Habaki mid-air and planting the GPS chip (page 11); to the police officer shooting himself in the head (page 15); and to Tozawa stopping in the rain to speak with someone via his mobile phone (page 20).