Lost Judgment/Chapter 09

The Weight of Guilt (, Shokuzai no Gyō, lit. "The Study of Atonement") is the ninth chapter of Lost Judgment.
== Plot ==
Yagami meets the Siren Owner at Survive Bar. He does not give his name, as this is the only time the two will meet, and calls himself Kuwana's uncle-in-law. He says he is a former member of the Seiryu Clan and ran Siren for 20 years after leaving. Yagami tells him he knows "Kitakata" is Kuwana's real name, but the man is here to pick up something Kuwana requested him to pick up: a USB drive disguised as a lighter. He requests Yagami hand it over, but Yagami wants to confirms its contents. He says he could not force Yagami to hand it over even if he wanted to, and Yagami requests an audience with Kuwana, but Kuwana is already gone. Yagami asks him if he knows of any link between Kuwana and Sawa, but he has no information. Yagami chooses to keep the drive as it is the only concrete lead he has. The Siren Owner says Kuwana was forced to go underground, and he taught him what he knows, as well as suggesting being a handyman. He states Yagami will learn why Kuwana went underground after he sees the USB's contents. Before he leaves, Yagami considers stopping him, but he states the bar does not tolerate that kind of behavior, and is glad Yagami's face is the last he sees in the city.
Outside Yokohama 99, Yagami encounters Tesso, who accuses him of being involved with RK. Tesso and his entourage fight Yagami, but are defeated. Tesso asks Yagami what all the events in Ijincho are driven by, and asks what the Kamurocho thugs are doing in Ijincho, but Yagami states he also does not know, but tells him RK's leader Soma was Sawa's murderer. He adds that Kuwana may be involved. Tesso declares a truce until RK is out of Ijincho by calling Yagami a brother, but also states it is to cover himself as Yagami has defeated him more than once.
Yagami gives the USB to Tsukumo and fills them in on Kaito being stabbed by Soma, and Kuwana's remote relative asking for the USB. Tsukumo sees one file on the USB, and opens it up to reveal a video taken secretly on September 17, 2008 of Mitsuru Kusumoto being bullied by Shinya Kawai and his classmates after classes, with Yui Suzuki recording it. Sugiura is disgusted by what he saw and Yagami states Mitsuru jumped off the roof into a coma that year. They investigate the video for any links to Kuwana, one theory brought up is him being Reiko Kusumoto's divorced husband, but Yagami states Kuwana is too young for a 30-year old son. They inspect the class members in Sawa's yearbook and see that Mitsuru's photo is different from the other yearbook photos, and Kawai is not present. This clues them in to the teacher being a replace for the previous one who was forced out of teaching after Mitsuru's suicide attempt. Tsukumo find the name of the old teacher: Yu Kitakata, Kuwana's real name. A picture of Kitakata from 13 years prior confirms it, and they see the reason Kuwana was forced underground. They suspect Kuwana's motive is to get revenge on the bullies, and that the bullies in the video are being blackmailed into helping him. Yagami decides to see Mamiya to confirm their suspicion, and Sugiura accompanies him in place of Kaito.
Yagami visits Kaito in the hospital. Kaito tells him he saw his memories of his time in the Matsugane Family with Matsugane, Hamura, and Higashi as he was bleeding out. He also mentions telling the police Soma was the attacker and Sawa's murderer. When Yagami mentions Kuwana, Kaito thinks back and muses that Kuwana may have had an ulterior motive to get close to them. Before Yagami leaves, he tells him Tsukumo will visit later, but Sugiura will leave Ijincho with him.
The two arrive at Yui Mamiya's apartment, and when they mention Sawa, she briefly stops talking. She decides to let them in, but it takes her a few minutes to open the door. After some questioning involve the Kurokawa Academy connection, Yagami accuses her of orchestrating the groping with Ehara to establish an alibi, then shows her the bullying video. Mamiya panics and lunges for Yagami's phone, but he refuses to delete the video. She messages her accomplices, and they enter her apartment wearing clown masks - the same people who attacked Sugiura and Tsukumo earlier - and attack the duo, but are defeated, and Yagami unmasks one of them to reveal Akaike.
Yagami and Sugiura take Mamiya to Charles for interrogation, much to Higashi's displeasure. Sugiura fills him in on the mystery and Kaito's stabbing, news he is angered to hear. Mamiya states that Kuwana recorded the video in secret, and did not tell them until long after they graduated because he waited for them to get what they want in life so they have more to lose, as they would not face much consequences had the video been made public during their teenage years. Kuwana approached Mamiya five years prior and showed her the video without saying anything. Higashi points out Kawai was also abducted five years ago, and Yagami pieces together that she was one of the captors. Mamiya confirms it, and adds that Kawai was left alone with Kuwana, and the next day, they all received a video of them abducting Kawai, as well as a picture of Kawai's corpse, to let them know he has even more leverage now. Since then, they have been forced to work for him as a form of atonement, and including Kawai, he has killed at least seven other bullies to drove a student to suicide. Higashi makes a positive remark of Kuwana's crusade.
Mamiya states she was not the only one involved in establishing an alibi for Ehara; the ones restraining him and filming him were part of the plan too. Although they are not forced to directly kill the victim, they cannot refuse him, as the video of abducting Kawai and his preserved corpse with their fingerprints will condemn them. She states she does not know RK or why they went after Sawa, but Kuwana contacted her six months prior for information about Toshiro Ehara's suicide. He was able to get the truth from her due to both of them being teachers losing a student to suicide. This caused him to target Mikoshiba, but Sawa was unaware of his true motive. Yagami receives a call from a blocked number, and answers to hear Kuwana on the other end. He requests Yagami meet him alone at Yagami Detective Agency, and asks to let Mamiya go, which Yagami says he will do after he confirms Kuwana is at the agency.
Yagami arrives at his agency, and calls Sugiura to have him release Mamiya after confirming Kuwana's presence. Yagami asks Kuwana why he was at Sawa's apartment. He asks Yagami if he feels guilty in Sawa's death, and tells him the guilt is his alone, not Yagami's. He expresses his regret at her death, but says he would need to have changed his course of action when he was still a teacher to avoid it. He compares Sawa's death to that of Emi Terasawa years ago, and Yagami agrees. Kuwana did not take the bullying seriously, feeling it was typical male behavior, but when Sawa informed him of both the bullying and Mitsuru's declining emotional state on September 16, 2008, he became concerned and set a hidden camera the next day. By the time he checked the footage, Mitsuru had already attempted suicide. When news reached the homeroom, all participants stated Kawai made them do it, and Kuwana decided to dedicate his life to ensure those guilty would atone.
Yagami once again asks why Kuwana was at Sawa's apartment. He explains in detail: He learned of Toshiro's suicide and asked Sawa about it, learning that she was forced to lie in court, causing him to target Mikoshiba. When she learned of Mikoshiba's death, she contacted Kuwana, suspecting he was involved, and carefully tried to get answers from him. He denied involvement, but she mentioned a detective was already investigating the site. Kuwana moved quickly, hiring the Yokohama Liumang to assault Yagami when he learned of his meeting with Sawa, but intervening himself when Yagami was able to repel them, and had Mamiya deter Sawa through giving her a picture of Mikoshiba. As they had not seen each other in 13 years, Sawa did not recognize her. The day of her death, Sawa asked to see Kuwana in person over a call but did not specify why, crying all the while. He had planned to fill her in if she was troubled by her suspicion of him being involved in Mikoshiba's murder, thinking she would have understood him, but it was a trap set by RK. Kuwana himself is not aware of why they want him, but suspects they are not mere thugs and have a powerful mastermind.
Kuwana receives a call from Mamiya who tells him she is not being followed, and he asks to meet with her. Yagami wants to talk with Kuwana more, but he tells Yagami he will carry out the rest and avenge Sawa. He then says this will be the last time Yagami sees him before jumping out the window. Yagami chases Kuwana to an underground parking lot, where he is confronted by the Kurokawa alumni. Akaike is assured by Kuwana that they only need to knock Yagami out; Kuwana himself will kill Yagami. Kuwana escapes, but Yagami is victorious. Mamiya tries to hit him from behind with a bat, but he stops the attack and disarms her.
== Trivia ==
* It is possible for the side case The Forbidden Taste to interrupt the fight with the Yokohama Liumang. When arriving at Yokohama 99, if a friendship with a cat is maxed out, that cat will trigger a cutscene and put the fight on hold until completion of the side case. Other activities can be performed until being close enough to the site of the battle.
==Related trophies/achievements==
Icon	Name 	Description 	Trophy Status (PlayStation)	Gamerscore (Xbox)
 	Lessons Taught	Completed Chapter 9.	Bronze 	15G
Category:Chapter Summaries
Category:Lost Judgment Chapter Summaries