Tokyo Unnatural Forensics

Chapter 587, Social Death!
P.S.: Finally finished updating, I'm exhausted!
Just as Kimura Aki collapsed to the ground, mentally broken, in front of the bag of charcoal ash that served as irrefutable evidence, an eerie silence fell over the scene.

But this silence was not empty; it was filled with countless gazes—the gazes of their former colleagues, partners, and the powerful figures they had so desperately tried to curry favor with. These gazes, at this moment, were colder and sharper than any court verdict.

The first to break the silence was an elderly man who, expressionless, adjusted his golf cap and, in a voice not loud but loud enough for those around him to hear, said calmly to his assistant:

"I hereby inform the Group that Mitsubishi UFJ is immediately suspending all cooperation negotiations with the Yangwang Foundation. In addition, I am withdrawing from the support group for the 'Karuizawa Classical Music Festival' next month, where he will serve as a director."

This statement is like a death sentence in social circles. It means that the Kimura family's credibility in the core financial circles has been completely wiped out, and all cooperation based on "reputation" has collapsed instantly.

Immediately afterwards, in the crowd, Yuriko Onoda, the younger sister of Kimiaki Onoda and a director of Dentsu Japan, took out her phone and her fingers flew across the screen, clearly posting a message in a high-level group.

That was the phone call she made to her brother, Onoda Kimiaki!
Something's happened! How exciting!

This trip to Karuizawa may not have been great in other aspects, but just the fact that I got to witness Uesugi Muneyuki's testimony in person was worth it!

"Brother, it's confirmed. Kimura has misappropriated his friend's estate and is suspected of murdering the heir. His family business is bankrupt, and his personal character is extremely risky. I recommend that Dentsu and its affiliated companies immediately blacklist him and remove him from all social activities."

Her message will rapidly permeate every corner of the Japanese business world through Dentsu's ubiquitous media and public relations network, as well as the Onoda family's extensive network of connections.

The Kimura family will be completely ostracized from all social circles that value "respectability".

The young man was more direct; he even whispered a voice message into his phone, seemingly excited at discovering a "hit":

"Dad, I'm handsome! Did you hear that? The Kimura family is finished! Embezzling assets and murdering people, caught red-handed! SoftBank Group and the Wish Foundation should immediately stop their cooperation with their foundation, it's too unlucky! Oh, and I need to quickly delete the photos of us with them at the charity gala from Instagram...!"

Mai, the senior next to him, was laughing at this guy's antics.

Such a fast cut!
However, this is in line with the rules of Japanese society. When it comes to murderers, the separation must be swift and thorough, and all traces of public connection must be erased.

Meanwhile, Tokugawa Shigemitsu, the Imperial Household Agency Councilor who had been silently observing, simply turned slightly to report the entire matter to Maeda Toshiyuki, the Director-General of the Imperial Household Agency, his tone carrying an undeniable air of disgust.

On the Imperial Household Agency's side, Maeda Toshiyuki also reacted immediately: "Report the conclusion of this matter to His Majesty immediately. Also, check the relevant charity registers and the list of companies that His Majesty has reviewed in the Imperial Household Ministry. Remove all those related to the Kimura family and its affiliated companies."

The word "erasure" represents the final ruling from the highest levels of Japanese society.

This means that the halo symbolizing the highest honor and status that the Kimura family had strived to reach for generations has completely vanished at this moment, and will never be able to reach it again.

At this moment, the whispers around them surged in like a tidal wave, becoming impossible to suppress:

"You can never truly know a person's heart just by looking at their face... Mr. Nakajima was her father's best friend and business partner back then!"

"He'd even lay a hand on an old friend's orphaned daughter for money; he's a monster!"

"I will never attend any event where their family is present in the future."

"She was just making excuses, it seems she's cut from the same cloth, that's just how her family is."

"It's over. The Kimura family is completely finished. They will have no place in Japan anymore."

These discussions are no longer just about a murder case, but about betrayal, greed, and utter depravity. In this social class that regards "decency" and "reputation" as its second life, the Kimura family's actions have crossed all the lines.

Kimura Aki stood frozen in place, listening to the unvarnished judgment and seeing the cold, even contemptuous, gazes of her once kind uncles and aunts. She felt as if she had been stripped naked and thrown into a freezing snowstorm. Her family background, wealth, and social circle, which she had relied on for so long, had vanished in a matter of minutes. She was no longer a wealthy heiress, but a "criminal's daughter," someone scorned by the entire social class.

Amidst the cold gazes and whispers of the powerful figures around her, Kimura Aki's psychological defenses finally crumbled completely.

She stopped trying to defend herself and instead unleashed a torrent of despair, anger, and immense resentment.

"You...you think I wanted this?!" she screamed, tears ruining her delicate makeup, her voice trembling and hoarse. "Yes! I did it! I suggested it! But none of this should have happened!"

She pointed sharply at the villa, as if accusing an invisible ghost.

“When Dad found out, he really felt guilty! He told me to settle it privately and even gave me 58 million yen! He said, ‘As long as it’s within this amount, we should settle it. We’re the ones who have let Uncle Nakajima and Mizuki down.’”

This figure touched some people around him slightly; it was indeed a large sum of money that was enough to show sincerity.

"But...but..." Kimura Aki's voice trembled with tears, filled with a complex mix of regret and self-justification. "How could I possibly come up with so much all at once? My investments in Ginza failed, those limited-edition bags, those parties...I owe so much money! And coincidentally...the money my father gave me just happened to fill the hole! So...so I only planned to give her ten million...I thought, a suddenly appearing, naive illegitimate daughter should be grateful for ten million!"

"But her! Yamashita Mizuki! Why won't she agree?!" A genuine, offended anger surfaced on Aki's face. "She's a friend I used to play with when I was little! Even though we haven't seen each other for many years, how can she be so greedy? Why did she suddenly appear and disrupt the life I've worked so hard to maintain?!"

“She said this villa is worth at least two or three hundred million, we have to give her a fair price! Otherwise, she’ll ruin Dad’s reputation and leave our family with nothing!” Yaxi’s voice was filled with fear: “Do you know what that means? It means we’ll be kicked out of this circle, it means I can never shop in Omotesando again, I can never go to high-end clubs, I’ll be laughed at and abandoned by all my friends! I’ll become like her… no, even worse than her! I’d rather die than live that kind of life!”

Her fear of losing her life of wealth far outweighed her fear of taking someone else's life.

“That night… I got her drunk and watched her fall asleep… my hands were trembling.” Her voice lowered, with a hint of dazedness, as if she had returned to that night of crime: “I knew she was Mizuki, the girl who followed me around when I was little and called me ‘Aki-neechan’… For a moment… I really… regretted it.”

“But when the drug took effect, when she was passed out there, when I thought about how she would destroy everything when she woke up… a thought suddenly popped into my head: if she disappeared, it would all be over. Dad’s property would be saved, my life would be back on track… everything would be as if it had never happened.”

She looked up at Uesugi Muneyuki and everyone around her with a strange smile mixed with tears and a distorted expression.

"Look, now everything is ruined... You've destroyed it all... Haha... Hahaha..."

Her laughter sounded like crying, particularly jarring in the fresh air of Karuizawa.

"Uesugi Muneyuki, I was unlucky to run into you today, but don't be so smug. You are one of us, you have the blood of the nobility flowing through your veins, you are from the same world as us! You old nobles should understand the fear of falling from the social class better than anyone else! Why did you help outsiders destroy me?! You will get your retribution sooner or later for meddling in other people's business! One day, you will be torn to pieces by those madmen you personally sent to prison!"

Upon hearing her say that, the people next to her all showed expressions of anger.

But Uesugi Muneyuki stared at her calmly, his eyes showing no emotion whatsoever.

"Miss Kimura, you've misunderstood two fundamental points. First, the family tradition of the Yonezawa Uesugi family teaches me that true 'nobles' uphold justice and life, not vanity sustained by sin. Second—"

He slightly raised his chin, his voice clear and cold:
"I've seen far too many souls rotting away because of selfish desires. It's regrettable that you, like them, are just another tragic example."

"Inspector Yamato, please." Uesugi Muneyuki had by now lost all interest in this woman, and Inspector Yamato nodded. The detective next to him took out a pair of beautiful silver bracelets and fastened them firmly onto her wrists.

"Ms. Kimura Aki, you are now formally arrested on suspicion of murder and embezzlement!"

(End of this chapter)