Honestly I believe the song in the media represents this story the best. About not losing hope; about continuing on despite all the hardships they had to face.

The picture in the media is a drawing I drew of all the main characters of Crime Games (2015). I'll give you guys the order. This is going from top left across, then bottom left across:

Top left - Nobuo, Yasuo, Akira, Katsura, Iori, Ryuu, Haru, Kiyoshi, Kazuma

Bottom left - Juzo, Saya, Chiaki, Izumi, Ayame, Tadashi, Mayumi, Akemi (shortest one, black hair), Mayuki, Atsushi, and Hitomi.

Anyways, it's finally the epilogue!! The last chapter wasn't much of an ending, huh? I hope you all enjoyed the story to the fullest though! Thanks for reading until the end!

☻☺☻

••●••

'It is always important to know when something has reached its end. Closing circles, shutting doors, finishing chapters, it doesn't matter what we call it; what matters is to leave in the past those moments in life that are over'
—Paulo Coelho

••●••

Although a lot happened to have at least caused the city to invest their interests into the deaths of the seventeen students and faculty members of Kaisei Academy, the citizens of Kyoto easily moved on with their lives. The deaths that did have a huge impact to the community were buried as heroes; the police force made sure to keep such a large scale atrocity on the down-low, and even swore those who survived to secrecy.

The unexplained terroristic bombings that had been going on had come to a rest also, and the civilians of the city were finally able to resume with their daily lives. Schools resumed, residents chatted idly day to day as if it all hadn't even occurred in the first place—it had become so quiet, and that only resulted in putting the six of them on edge.

No more meeting up to discuss the person going after their heads.

No more weeping over the loss of their clubmates one after another.

No more breaking down anything and everything as if it held another conspiracy that could ruin their lives.

After the senior graduation in April, the surviving CRF members plus Kazuma were given the opportunity to return back to their daily lives before things had taken a turn for the worst.

"Tada, come eat breakfast!"

Hopping down the steps, the brunet entered into the kitchen only to find that his sister had cooked some pancakes. Seeing Tadashi's obviously wowed expression, Madoka Matsumoto grinned.

"I told you I improved!" She stuck out her ladle, jutting out her chin.

"Yeah, no more curry?" Tadashi smiled a bit as he sat down to eat. Was this really true? No more curry for breakfast? The thought made him so happy he felt like he could cry.

Picking up the fork laid out beside his plate, he smothered the pancakes in butter and drizzled syrup overtop. Just as he cut a piece and put it into his mouth, his eyeballs nearly popped from their sockets.

"Oh, I did put curry in them," Madoka commented, blinking rapidly. "There was some left over and we ran out of flour."

Queasy, Tadashi sprung up to his feet and gulped down the closest glass of water he could find. The nasty taste disappeared down his throat and he let out a huge breath of relief. Gagging, he put down the cup and stepped away from the table.

"Hey, Tada! Where do you think you're you going? You have to eat it!"

Tadashi spun around just as his sister jabbed the ladle into his side.

"I made it for you! You need to get all your nutrients!"

"Not from curry flavoured pancakes," he responded, blanching.

Madoka puffed her cheeks up. "I don't care! You have to eat it!"

"It's fine, I-I'm really not hungry!"

"You're lying!"

Madoka continued to stab the fork into another pancake piece and tried to dump the food down his throat. Fortunately, Tadashi was saved when the doorbell rang. Ducking past the fork, Tadashi's face brightened as he dashed for the doorway. "Yes, she's here!"

Watching as her brother bumbled to answer the door, Madoka puffed up her cheeks. Resting the plate of pancakes back down on the table, she looked up just in time to see Ayame Kobayashi standing at the entrance of their apartment.

"Kobayashi!" Tadashi beamed.

Not possessing the same shred of happiness to see him, Ayame crossed her arms across her chest, her gaze analytical. "You look like a mess," she said.

Madoka's lips downturned into a sour look at the sight of her brother grinning from ear to ear despite her words not being a compliment. "He so has a crush on that rock of a girl," she murmured under her breath.

Just as the sentence left her mouth, Ayame's attention darted her way. Flinching, Madoka erected her body, wide-eyed. To her relief, Ayame didn't say anything and instead returned her eyes to Tadashi.

"Is she coming along?"

Tadashi blinked, finally dropping his smile. "She?"

Ayame shook his head at his confusion. "Never mind, then."

Tadashi cocked his head to the side and Madoka rolled her eyes at how slow her brother was sometimes.

"She meant me," Madoka cut in, strolling up to their side. Jostling her brother in the side again, she spared Ayame a wide smile. "It's nice to see you again, Ayame."

"You too," Ayame responded without much expression change. "Ever since March, huh?"

"Yup..." Shaking away the melancholic memories that overtook her, she laughed. "So where are you taking my brother today?"

"The hospital to meet up with Sasahara and Chiaki," replied the female. "She finally got discharged."

Madoka's face brightened. "What, really? That's great!"

The white-haired female bobbed her head with a relieved smile. "It is... Luckily, the cuts on her face and body weren't deep enough to kill her."

At the corner of Madoka's eye she was able to spot her brother shooting her an envious look for interfering. Ayame, who caught sight of it, questioned it with the raise of her eyebrow. Tadashi immediately glanced away in the opposite direction, bashful. Madoka grinned at his awkwardness.

"Make sure to have him home before it's time for his nap," Madoka cooed.

Her statement instantly earned a glare from her brother. "Madoka!"

"Don't worry, I planned on doing so," Ayame interjected. "However, perhaps I should bring his bottle and pacifier just in case..."

Tadashi flushed as Madoka howled in a hysteric fit of laughter.

"Kobayashi!" he hissed.

"I'm kidding, of course," Ayame said quickly. Madoka continued to double over, slapping her knees in amusement. Tadashi frowned at her as a result. "Let's hurry up and go," Ayame went on. "They're probably already waiting."

With that, the white-haired female spun on her heels and headed down the steps. Sending one last scowl in his sister's direction, Tadashi followed her out, shutting the door behind him.

Right as he made it to the bottom, he caught up to Ayame who was waiting by his front gates. He was surprised to see Ayame peering in the direction past his shoulder, so he followed her gaze. He wasn't even the least bit surprised to see his sister watching them from their living room window with a smirk on her face. Sighing, Tadashi rolled his eyes.

"Everything has been fine between you two, huh?"

Ayame's comment snatched Tadashi's attention. Her violet eyes met his and he laughed awkwardly. "Oh, y-yeah. Under normal circumstances, we would've been taken to a foster home but luckily the police allowed us to rent an apartment and live there instead."

Ayame nodded and finally started to walk forward. "They must've had sympathy for you. Then again, they might've been grateful that we had managed to put a stop to the Red Murder Case so they made it up to you."

Pausing, Tadashi kept her pace. "Yeah. How about you, Kobayashi?"

"Me?" Ayame asked.

"Didn't the police interrogate you? What did they ask?"

Her lips upturning into a wry smile, she exhaled, "Just that they wanted to study me."

"Study... you?" Tadashi blinked, turning down his head slightly.

"And Kazuma Kurosaki," she replied, pressing her eyelids shut. "Even if you do treat me like I'm human, I'm not, Matsumoto. I'm a robot with the capability to feel emotions."

"But..." Tadashi began, frowning. He stopped himself short. "But why Upperclassman Kazuma as well?" he asked instead. "What does he have to do with this?"

Ayame tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean why?" she said, perplexed. "It's obviously because he is a cyborg."

Silence blanketed over the teens. Tadashi's eyes had grown as wide as saucers and his mouth fell in utter shock. Ayame shook her head.

"Before I was created, Kurosaki was the one his dad used to experiment on," she explained. "It wasn't too extreme, but majority of his limbs are robotic."

Tadashi was still having a hard time to digest it. His senior was a cyborg? Was that how he was able to keep up his collected demeanour all the time? Tadashi's shoulders slumped. It was just as unbelievable as it was when he first learned the truth about Ayame.

"I'm not sure you know this, but I've spent my entire life running away from the police because I was scared a time where they would find out about my existence would occur. It never ended well, even back when my creator, Azusa Kurosaki, was alive." Ayame pulled a strand of hair behind her ear, though the smile dancing upon her lips didn't fade. "I don't remember how, but I came to comprehend emotions. And because I did, the news and paparazzi were all over me. But after Azusa Kurosaki disappeared, I ran away to hide. Since my creator was gone, people would automatically be able to do anything they wanted with me. And if the police found me... they would've learned about Azusa's illegal research and be given permission to apprehend me by force. There was the potential they'd take me apart as well."

"Is that why..." Tadashi's words drifted off as he recalled all those times Ayame had become so antsy whenever the police had come. It was because she was afraid of what they would do to her. Tadashi's eyes widened. "Th-then that study they plan on doing—"

"I approved of it, before you start panicking," Ayame cut him off, silencing him. "They won't take me apart, but they will conduct a few tests."

A frown flitted onto his face. "But..."

"Matsumoto, running away is something I no longer want to do," she said. "Besides, I have nothing better to do now that I've graduated. Going to college or university would be pointless for me."

"You aren't going?"

"Of course not," Ayame said as if it were obvious. "What kind of android goes to college or university like a regular human being? The only reason I came to Kaisei Academy in the first place was because I wanted to figure something out."

"Figure something out?"

Ayame halted mid-step, catching Tadashi off guard. "It was a goal that had driven me forward for a long time, and I ended up finding an answer," she confessed. "I'm glad I came to the academy."

Lifting her head, Ayame met Tadashi's gaze.

He stared right back, puzzled, and seeing that made Ayame chuckle.

"Even if everything has changed, I'm glad you haven't."

"H-huh?" stuttered Tadashi, his heart skipping a beat.

Placing her hands on her hips, Ayame spoke, "Even if the city tries to conceal what happened, I know for sure I never will forget—not the other members, nor about the mark they left in this city. I've saved this entire occurrence as a backup drive in case my system gets restarted too."

Something in Tadashi's mind clicked and ignoring the stinging sensation in his chest, he bobbed his head in agreement.

"The CRF had to get disbanded, correct?"

At the question, Tadashi's gut twisted. "Yeah. With just Ryuu and me attending school at the moment, that's only two members and you need at least five to start a club..."

It was a long silence, but Ayame finally found it in her to speak, "Maybe this is for the better. That club had been nothing but trouble from the start."

Although the words left Ayame's mouth, the two knew for sure that wasn't true. The CRF... it meant more. It was more than just a club. And the bonds all the members shared had surpassed just mere acquaintances.

"That reminds me, I visited Inohara the other day," Ayame brought up.

Tadashi's eyes lit up. "How is she? I haven't seen her since the graduation ceremony last month."

"She's fine," she answered. "Full of energy as usual. In fact, she's dedicated to taking over her family's dojo so she's been participating in many tournaments to 'whip her body into shape.'"

Tadashi laughed at the news. "That sounds like something she would say."

"Yeah," said Ayame without much emotion. "I... I tried asking about that night."

Tadashi's heart halted beating entirely but before the memories could dare surface, Ayame went on.

"She didn't say anything. She just told me to move forward and forget about everything. Which, actually, is really what we should be doing."

Biting the inside of his cheek, Tadashi clenched his fists. "Ryuu also... doesn't want to mention anything either," he admitted after awhile. "Especially whenever Haru is brought up. I guess... something must've happened that night."

"Well, Haru did mean a lot to him," Ayame commented. "And to you. The mastermind most likely manipulated him as well considering he... finished him off as well as Hitomi."

A rigid silence hung in the air as Tadashi shut his eyes tight. The night was honestly a nightmare, and bringing up the existence of the mastermind was like adding fuel to a fire. Grounding his teeth, Tadashi tried to rid the echoing words of his companions and those horrid flashbacks. Nausea washed over the teen at the memory of his parents' deaths and his dearest friends.

A sudden grab to his sleeve jolted Tadashi and he erupted with a startled yelp. It was Ayame, looking just as strained as he was. "I'm sure he was doing something to your body which resulted in those false memories."

Ayame's reassuring behaviour relaxed the teen and he exhaled a shaky breath. In that moment, he was truly fortunate that he had told Ayame all about what had happened to him.

"Do... you really believe what he said about your two bodies?"

Tadashi knew he couldn't avoid the question but at the same time, he was expecting it to come from her mouth sooner or later.

"Whether it is true or not... I only know I'm..."

"Sorry," Ayame cut in, knowing she went too far. Smiling, she turned up her head. "But I only know you as Tadashi Matsumoto too."

Slowly, the corners of Tadashi's lips curved upwards as well. They both continued to stare at one another, and with that alone, they were assured that it was time to leave it all in the past. It was all over. The days of sorrow and regret. The days of frustration and anger. Loss and pain...

They were all gone. Buried and sealed away the night that it ended. The night that they surfaced victorious; the day that they lost them all.

And maybe, it was for the better.

"We should hurry up and get to the hospital," Ayame said, finally drawing back from the brunet. "We did waste ten minutes and thirty-two seconds."

A laugh pushed past Tadashi's lips at how easily she had stated something like that and ruined the mood. Ayame's eyebrows furrowed together, bemused.

"What?" she demanded.

"Nothing," Tadashi said dismissively, waving his hand. "It was just so exact."

Ayame's lips pursed, dropping her hands. "Oh."

"We should get Chiaki a present," Tadashi suggested in sudden realization.

Ayame blinked. "We should?"

"It would make her happy." Tadashi nodded. "We should get her... I'm sure Ryuu already got her flowers so maybe—"

Before the teen could finish his sentence, a loud rumble erupted from his stomach and he flinched, immediately clasping his arms overtop of it.

"Food?" Ayame suggested, her voice laced with amusement.

Tadashi's cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "I... didn't eat yet, sorry."

"Then let's get something," Ayame said, moving her feet.

Tadashi pursued her. "B-But—"

"It doesn't matter," she pointed out with a shrug. "Those two aren't going anywhere."

As the words left Ayame's mouth, Tadashi was able to detect the immense amount of gratitude the android was radiating through her smile. Tadashi didn't even try to protest.

She was right. The six of them were not going to disappear for a while.