Takayuki Yagami

Takayuki Yagami (1983-) was a Japanese private investigator and lawyer who became director of the Tokyo-based Yagami Detective Agency after previously serving as a defense attorney at the Genda Law Office. Yagami left behind his law career in disgrace in 2015 after a murder suspect he had represented, Shinpei Okubo, was accused of murdering his girlfriend Emi Terasawa shortly after his release. Partnering with his ex-yakuza friend Masaharu Kaito, Yagami opened a private detective agency in Kabukicho. In December 2018, while helping Matsugane-gumi captain Kyohei Hamura prove his innocence following the murder and eye-gouging of Kyorei-kai yakuza Toshiro Kume, Yagami began to uncover a more sinister plot, eventually resulting in his exposure of the AD-9 conspiracy. While he lost his adoptive father Mitsuru Matsugane and his mentor Masamichi Shintani along the way, he revealed the Health Ministry's corruption and collusion with the murderous ADDC researcher Yoji Shono, causing the corrupt officials to be brought to justice. With his reputation restored, Yagami later helped uncover Vice-Minister of Health Reiko Kusumoto's solicitation of the murder of her son's high-school bully in 2022.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Takayuki Yagami was born in Tokyo, Japan in 1983. His father was a defense lawyer, and his parents' long working hours caused Yagami to rebel against them and get into trouble in school. When he was 15, he ran away from home and stayed at a friend's house to avoid his parents. That same night, the father of a 15-year-old girl whose murderer Yagami's father had successfully represented in court visited the home of Yagami's family and murdered his parents in cold blood. The killer then hanged himself at the scene of the crime, and, on returning home, Yagami chanced upon the crime scene. Yagami fell into a rage that lasted throughout his youth, as he dropped out of high school and lied about his age in order to become a bartender at Kabukicho's Bar Tender.

Yagami avoided receiving any help from his relatives, and the rebellious Yagami got into alleyway fights with the young Matsugane-gumi yakuza Masaharu Kaito, frequently losing. One day, Matsugane broke up their fight and took a shine to the persistent young man, taking him in as an adoptive son. During this time, Yagami and Kaito became best friends, while Yagami also made the acquaintance of Matsugane-gumi captain Kyohei Hamura and Kaito's sworn brother Toru Higashi. Matsugane later introduced Yagami to his sworn brother Ryuzo Genda, a civilian lawyer and the head of the Genda Law Office, and Matsugane and Genda put Yagami through law school before Genda gave Yagami a part-time job at his office. Yagami spent his first paycheck on buying a coffee maker for Matsugane, and, after graduating from law school, Genda offered Yagami a full-time job as an attorney. There, he was mentored by Masamichi Shintani and befriended Saori Shirosaki, who introduced Yagami to her friend Mafuyu Fujii. Yagami and Fujii formed a short-lived relationship after Fujii's affection for her boss Kunihiko Morita went unrequited.

Yagami in 2015 — Yagami learning of Emi's murder

In 2015, Yagami took on the job of defending murder suspect Shinpei Okubo, a hospital janitor who was accused of the murder of Alzheimer's patient Koichi Waku. With the help of Okubo's coworker and girlfriend Emi Terasawa, he was able to prove that Okubo did not murder Waku, with Terasawa's outburst in court guilting the jury into acquitting her troubled, yet innocent lover. Yagami became a rising star in the legal world as a result of this victory, but he was unable to uncover Waku's true murderer. Soon after Okubo's acquittal, he was rearrested and found guilty of murder after allegedly getting drunk, stabbing Emi to death, and burning down their apartment. Emi's family and the media berated Yagami for setting a murderer free, and the trial ended with the destruction of Yagami's reputation as a lawyer. After Ko Hattori published a damning article about Yagami's fall from grace, he quit his job as a lawyer, broke off his relationship with Mafuyu, and partnered with his former rival-turned-best friend Kaito - who had been expelled from the Matsugane-gumi for failing to prevent the robbery of their office safe - to found the Yagami Detective Agency.

The AD-9 conspiracy[]

Defending Hamura[]

On 10 December 2018, Yagami's life changed forever when the Kyorei-kai yakuza Toshiro Kume's body was found dead behind Club Amour, the third Kyorei-kai gangster to be found dead with his eyes gouged out. That same night, after collecting the corrupt detective Yasuyuki Uzawa's gambling debt for Hamura, Yagami visited the Genda Law Office, a gift of dorayaki sweets in hand, to look for work. While he was initially assigned to help investigate a divorce case, his plans were changed when Hamura requested that Genda assign Yagami to prove his innocence in Kume's murder.

Yagami was forced to cooperate with his mentor-turned-jealous rival Shintani, who would serve as Hamura's lawyer at his trial. He learned that three Kansai yakuza from a group that had been making inroads into Tokyo while picking fights with the Tojo-kai had been murdered in the same way, with their eyes gouged out, causing Yagami to coin the nickname "the Mole" after the animal that blinded its rivals. Hamura insisted that, while and his entourage had gotten into a fight with Kume and Akira Murase outside Club Amour and had briefly interrogated the captured Kume in the club, he had been at Sauna Goten at the time of Kume's murder. At Sauna Goten, Yagami learned of a fight between a host and some yakuza that same night. The next day, Shintani showed Yagami security camera footage of the fight in front of Club Amour, identifying the other Kyorei-kai yakuza as Murase, and suspecting that there was a Kyorei-kai hideout in the city.

Yagami battling the Kyorei Clan at KJ Art

Yagami went on to track down Amour's manager Tashiro Aragaki with the help of his reclusive friend Makoto Tsukumo at the Mantai Internet Cafe, and Aragaki revealed that Hamura had hardly touched Kume before leaving the club, giving Hamura a stronger alibi at the sauna. Intent on finding Murase's perspective on the fight, Yagami decided to infiltrate the Kyorei-kai hideout, learning from Patriarch Matsugane that KJ Art was a front for the Kyorei-linked Kajihira Group. Using a drone, Yagami and Kaito scouted out the building before Yagami decided to evade combat by destroying the building's water heater and disguising himself as a repairman sent to fix it. Yagami's cover was eventually blown, but he was able to fight his way through the Kyorei-kai men and confront Murase at his office. Yagami then forced Murase into telling him about the events of 10 December from his perspective.

Yagami and Kaito fighting off the Kyorei-kai

Not long after, back at Hamura's jail cell, Yagami learned about his fight with a host named Reijiro Seiya, whose testimony he desired. Kaito also suggested that Yagami contact the bent cop Kazuya Ayabe, a regular at Bar Tender, for additional information. Yagami first visited Tender owner Jo Masuda, his former boss, who told him that Seiya worked at Club Stardust. With Tsukumo's help, Yagami was able to track down several women who were waiting for dates with Seiya, ultimately tracking the lothario down to Yakiniku Kanrai. There, Seiya revealed that he had been expecting Yagami's visit, and he readily agreed to testify in court. He also said that he had been attacked outside Kyushu No. 1 Star in Pink Alley around midnight, meaning that Hamura had attacked Seiya at the same time as Kume's murder. As Yagami headed back to the agency, he was surrounded by Kyorei-kai men led by Murase, who intended to avenge Yagami's earlier intrusion, but Kaito arrived just in time to help Yagami beat them down.

At Hamura's trial, Yagami sat in attendance as Mafuyu and Keigo Izumida attempted to secure Hamura's conviction and Shintani called forth Seiya to prove Hamura's alibi. When a visibly nervous Seiya said that he did not remember if he had met Hamura, Shintani called for a recess as Yagami questioned his star witness. Seiya revealed that Murase of the Kyorei-kai had taken his sister and threatened to kill her if he helped secure Hamura's acquittal. Yagami decided to rush to the Kyorei-kai headquarters during this recess, with Kaito holding off the men at the front as Yagami fought his way through the building and, after defeating Murase, rescued Seiya's sister. Yagami then persuaded Murase that, since Seiya's testimony proved that Hamura was not the killer, then the real killer would go free if Hamura was punished. Murase reluctantly released the girl, and he made Yagami promise to find Kume's true killer.

With Seiya now able to testify, Hamura was found innocent by the judge, causing the defense team to celebrate. However, Yagami refused to leave the murder case unsolved, as he still believed that the true murderer was still at large. Hamura warned Yagami against continuing his investigation now that the trial was over, but Yagami expressed his determination to uncover the true killer, as he believed that Hamura had handed off Kume to the murderer before leaving for the sauna that night. Shortly after, Kaito gave Yagami information on the Mole's previous victims Kenkichi Mashiba and Yasuo Kunimura, who had been murdered in August and October, and Yagami decided to investigate the site of Mashiba's killing in Pink Alley.

Investigating the Mole[]

While leaving Pink Alley, Yagami had his phone stolen by the masked burglar Fumiya Sugiura, whom he chased down and forced to return his phone after a rooftop chase. He also helped Homeless Kondo find help for his stomach issues from the doctor Akio Moroboshi, a former university doctor-turned-community activist who ran a clinic in the sewers of Kabukicho. This connection allowed for Yagami to buy expensive medical kits to patch whatever wounds he received during his search for "the Mole." Not long after, he had an unpleasant reunion with Kondo when he came to Genda Law to interview Shintani, and Genda hired Yagami to help Noriko Taguchi, co-owner of Heavy Coffee on Taihei Boulevard, uncover her husband of 40 years Masayoshi Taguchi's infidelity with the owner of Kasho Zoku, the bar above their store.

While returning to his office, Yagami got into a fight with Keihin Gang leader Kenta Kasai after spotting Kasai harassing his friend, the Korean restauranteur Kim Won-soon, about an attractive waitress who worked at his Beef Zone restaurant. When Yagami beat up and chased off the Keihin Gang men, Kim warned Yagami about the power of the Keihin Gang, but Yagami decided to help Kim fight them off. While leaving the restaurant, he was struck by the drone racer Chuichi Makihara's prototype drone, causing a regretful Makihara to apologize to Yagami and tell him about League Kabukicho, a drone-racing group. For free, he modified Yagami's work drone to make it faster and able to compete in races, and he invited Yagami to join him in a race sometime.

Intent on continuing his investigation, Yagami reached out to Kaito about meeting up with Ayabe, and Kaito said that they could meet Ayabe at Koi Wife, an indoor fishing venue. There, they were attacked by several street thugs who demanded to know why they were meeting with Ayabe, but Yagami and Kaito made short work of them, causing the cashier to turn gleeful and say that they had passed Ayabe's test. The two men were then invited to the basement casino, L'Amant, where Yagami met Ayabe. Ayabe revealed that he effectively managed the casino before getting into the "Mole" murders: his boss, Mitsuru Kuroiwa, was in charge of investigating the Kyorei murder cases. Ayabe then handed off a dossier of police files for Yagami to read back at his office. Yagami was ambushed in front of his office by masked men sent by Hamura, and, unaware of their identities, Yagami fought them off.

Yagami then spent the entire night reading Ayabe's file about the previous murders. When Kaito arrived at the agency the next morning, Yagami told him that the police had been tracking the murder victim Kunimura right up until his death, and that he had left the Konban Wife brothel just two hours before his death. At that brothel, where women roleplayed as their clients' wives, Kunimura had hired out a "Kanae-chan." While Kaito was eager to investigate the brothel, Yagami decided to visit himself.

Matsugane manhunt[]

Yagami requested Kanae-chan at the entrance and paid for a 35-minute session, only for the person to enter his room to be Hamura, accompanied by his right-hand man Kengo Kajikawa. Hamura asked if Yagami had been digging into the murders, and he proceeded to strike Yagami to punish him for disobeying his orders. Yagami realized that Hamura's four companions had been the men to attack him the night before, and he was able to beat down his assailants before leaving to seek Matsugane's help.

Yagami visited the Matsugane-gumi headquarters, noticing the glares of the rank-and-file men in the office and lamenting to Matsugane that the boss seemed to be the only man happy to see him. He then asked his boss if he could call off Hamura and his men, but Matsugane revealed that he had not been in control of his family since he started raising Yagami, as Hamura - being the family's main breadwinner - had earned the loyalty of the rank-and-file and had largely usurped his power. Kengo then arrived and told Yagami that Hamura demanded a meeting with him at Cafe Alps. Knowing it was a trap, Yagami still headed there.

Hamura and his men attacking Yagami at Cafe Alps

Hamura was late to his meeting with Yagami, but, when he sat down, he raised his lighter to signal the other customers to leave the venue. His men then walked in, and they proceeded to administer a harsh beating to Yagami to punish him for his investigation. In the nearby alleyway, Hamura threatened to gouge out Yagami's eyes with a knife, but Yagami fought back, toppling Hamura and causing him to order his men to attack. Yagami took down Kengo, Matsugane lieutenant Kojiro Ozaki, and the rest of Hamura's henchmen. Just then, Hamura ordered Kengo to shoot Yagami dead, but Kengo hesitated long enough for Sugiura to arrive and rescue Yagami. Yagami followed Sugiura in a chase throughout Kabukicho, evading hitmen sent by Hamura to kill him. After losing the Matsugane-gumi, Yagami confronted Sugiura, still bitter about Sugiura's brief theft of his phone, but Sugiura revealed that he had only stolen Yagami's phone to make him chase him, thus forcing the police to pursue Yagami under the suspicion that he, too, was a robber. Sugiura then took his leave, while, elsewhere, Hamura ordered a manhunt for Yagami.

When Yagami returned to his agency, he found that Toru Higashi and his men had been defeated by Kaito after attacking him. Yagami was surprised to see how callous Higashi appeared to be, and Higashi warned Kaito that the Matsugane-gumi was looking for Yagami and advised that Kaito avoid Yagami if he wanted to stay out of Hamura's line of fire. Deciding that he had gotten the message across, Higashi and his men departed as Yagami entered the building.

Investigating the Matsugane robbery[]

Kaito, still holding out hope for his sworn brother, persuaded Yagami to tail him, and Yagami followed Higashi back to his arcade, Charles. Along the way, Yagami noticed Higashi rescuing one of his men from thugs, and, in the arcade, Yagami noticed Higashi giving money to a little boy who had lost change to a faulty arcade machine. Yagami then approached the clerk and demanded to meet with Higashi, but the clerk refused, instead putting up a fight. Higashi emerged from his office after his clerk was beaten down, and his initial hostility subsided after Yagami made it clear that he was not looking for a fight. The two reflected on their last meeting, on the day of Kaito's expulsion from the Matsugane-gumi, and Higashi warned Yagami that, with Kaito out of the way, Hamura had taken near-complete control of the family, leaving him with no choice but to follow his orders. When Kaito mentioned the robbery and Higashi's change in personality, Higashi grew combative, causing Yagami to conclude that the two circumstances were connected. Yagami was forced to take down Higashi before leaving. Back at the agency, he talked to Kaito about what he had learned and about the robbery, and Kaito said that Higashi had apparently recovered the stolen money, resulting in his promotion. Intent on uncovering the cause behind Kaito's expulsion, Yagami decided to conduct yet another investigation.

Along the way, Yagami befriended the cat lover Masakazu Nekomiya, promising to help him find stray cats so that he could care for them. Yagami approached the bartender of Tender to ask about where he could find Ayabe, as he needed info about the robbery of the Matsugane-gumi headquarters. Masuda offered to help Yagami if he could do a job for a mysterious client who demanded to meet Yagami at Hills Garden on Park Boulevard. There, Yagami met the thief Crow, who enlisted Yagami's help with finding the "Jester" (Sugiura), whom he claimed had gone missing in action. Yagami tracked down a man who looked like "Jester", only to find that he was Seiichi Kamisaku, an admirer of the burglary ring who had stolen 500,000 yen worth of goods because of his desire to be like his heroes. Yagami soon came across the thieves Mascara and Fox and tailed them, overhearing that Jester had quit the group because it was hijacked by Crow, who turned the group away from its original "Robin Hood" approach to crime. On returning to Crow, Yagami found several burglars beating down on Kamisaku for impersonating them. Yagami took them down in a fight and rescued the fan, and Crow then arrived and attempted to persuade Yagami to recruit Jester for a credit union robbery. Yagami confronted Crow about his hypocrisy in stealing for the sake of monetary gain rather than fighting injustice, resulting in a fight in which Yagami beat down Crow. The defeated Crow asked Yagami to tell Jester to take his anti-injustice crusade down a notch lest he over-extend himself and get caught, and Yagami departed with his promised 50,000 yen reward.

Moments later, Ayabe called Yagami, as Masuda had fulfilled his promise to put the two in touch. They arranged a meeting for the next day, so Yagami went back to his office to rest. The next morning, Ayabe called his phone, only for Yagami to realize that Ayabe had snuck into his office and was sitting at his desk. In exchange for 100,000 yen, Ayabe handed over files revealing that the homeless man "Red Nose" had carried out the Matsugane robbery, and that Kaito had chosen not to resist because, unbeknownst to Red Nose and even the Matsugane Family, Higashi was also hiding in the office (having been ordered to polish Matsugane's shoes), and Kaito did not want to endanger his friend. Ayabe also revealed that, while Higashi had tracked down Red Nose and taken the money back, Kaito was still in the cold. Kaito determined that Higashi must have asked the homeless for help in finding Red Nose, so he decided to do the same.

After asking around enough, Yagami found a homeless man, Yoshimasa Nagasako, who offered to help Yagami if he could win a prize from Paradise VR and bring it back to him. The homeless man gave Yagami a play pass, and Yagami took this to the VR parlor receptionist Naisu Daisu and won the prize. On returning to Nagasako with the prize, Yagami was referred to Fumihito Naoe, who said that Red Nose might be at the Children's Park for a food giveaway. On arriving there, however, Yagami was ambushed by Naoe and a gang of homeless men who vowed to avenge Red Nose. Yagami fought them off and forced them to reveal that Red Nose had been murdered a year earlier. Upon hearing this, Yagami headed over to Charles to confront Higashi, only to find Higashi flanked by several bodyguards. Yagami was soon joined by Kaito, and the two men demanded answers about Red Nose. A panicking Higashi aimed a gun at them and threatened to shoot, but Naoe and the homeless men from earlier entered the arcade, determined to punish the man responsible for Red Nose's death. Yagami took this opportunity to charge Higashi and discharge his gun, and he and Kaito took down Higashi and his guards. Higashi was forced to admit that Red Nose had been hired by Hamura to rob the family stash, frame Kaito for enabling the robbery, and secure Kaito's expulsion from the family so that he could exercise total control over Patriarch Matsugane. After Higashi had stumbled across Hamura's meeting with Red Nose in the sewers, where the two men intended to split their earnings, Hamura forced Higashi to shoot Red Nose and intimidated him into silence about their deal, forcing Higashi to swear to be loyal to him. With Hamura's treachery revealed, Yagami returned to the office to allow for Kaito and Higashi to catch up and repair their damaged friendship.

The Kyorei invasion[]

The next morning, Yagami received a news alert about the shooting death of Matsugane-gumi member Masakazu Kurimoto at the hands of a Kyorei gunman. Kaito dropped by and revealed that the man had been in the family for years, and he was likely killed by the Kyorei. Shortly after, Mafuyu called Yagami for an urgent meeting at the Genda Law Office, where Yagami found Saori arguing with her new coworker Issei Hoshino over his alleged theft of her cake. Hoshino suggested that Mafuyu may have stolen it, but, after analyzing the "crime scene," Yagami realized that a planned power outage had occurred the night before, and that Genda must have thrown away the cake and the fridge's milk when both went bad. After Genda arrived and confirmed Yagami's verdict, he explained Shintani's absence by saying that Shintani was conducting a solo investigation into the Mole, as he was, as always, looking to one-up his rival Yagami by solving the murders.

Yagami then dropped by Charles to speak with Higashi about the murder. Higashi showed Yagami a photo of the body and suggested that he had been dressed similarly to Hamura on the night of the murder, and that they were both the same age and build, meaning that he may have been mistaken for Hamura, and the shooting was not meant to start a war. He also warned Yagami that Kyorei captain Satoshi Shioya had come to town specifically to target Hamura. As Yagami left Charles, he was called by Kim, who said that the Keihin Gang was beating up immigrants again, and asked for Yagami's help. Yagami was challenged to a fight by Keihin Gang leader Renji Honda, a muscular fighter who believed that fighting was the only thing that kept the world spinning. Yagami defeated him in a fight, and Kim told Yagami that Honda was one of the "Keihin Four" alongside Kasai, Kaito Sakakiba, and Matsuhisa Koga.

With the Keihin Gang beaten, Yagami decided to head to the Genda Law Office to warn Shintani that Hamura and the Matsugane-gumi might be after him. While Shintani was away from the office, Genda enlisted Yagami's help with serving as a bodyguard to his client Azusa Otaki, who was about to go to court to obtain custody rights over her daughter Karin amid a divorce from her ex-yakuza husband Jin Otaki. While Azusa shopped for courtroom clothing at Le Marche, her daughter ran off, but Yagami caught up to her and heard her complain about her family dysfunction and her desire to move out if her parents split. When both of her parents caught up to her and began to argue, the girl shredded a piece of paper before heading to the Genda Law Office with her parents. Yagami realized that the shredded paper was three circus tickets, and that the girl wanted her parents to stay together.

Back at the law office, the family arrived before Genda, soon to be joined by Jin's lawyer Shunei Oikawa, a former pupil of Genda's who was determined to win the case. Oikawa and Jin pushed for a settlement in the case, claiming that Azusa had been committing adultery, with Oikawa showing a photo as proof. Azusa claimed to have been set up by Oikawa, so Yagami decided to conduct his own investigation. He headed to the Luna Blue Hotel, where the infidelity supposedly took place, and he asked the manager if he recognized the woman in Oikawa's photo. While the receptionist, Shigehiko Tsujimichi, feigned ignorance, a young man arrived and demanded that the receptionist delete the security footage. Yagami recognized the young man, Yūjirō Shionome, as the gigolo in the photo, and the receptionist said that he would only delete the footage if the man paid him double. Yagami confronted the man about his ties to Oikawa, causing him to pull a knife and pick a fight. Yagami was able to beat him down, and he persuaded the old man to show him the security footage after promising to pay for it.

Yagami realized that the woman in Oikawa's photo was a much older woman, and that the image had been doctored to depict Azusa. Just then, the young man rushed in with a baseball bat and smashed the laptop, destroying the hard drive and the photo. Yagami was forced to return to the law office empty-handed, where he confronted Oikawa with allegations of doctoring the photo. Oikawa pointed out that Kiryu had no proof, and that his allegations were mere hearsay, but the receptionist then ran in and revealed that he had made a secret backup copy. The revelation of this photo caused Azusa to cancel her signing of the settlement at the last minute, and, after Genda gave Karin her circus tickets and asked her to express her pent-up feelings (which her parents had ignored), Karin revealed that she wanted her parents to stay together and go back to the circus, where they would always be cheered up. Her parents decided to cancel their divorce, and, while Oikawa pointed out that Genda would thus make no money from a trial, Genda said that lawyers making choices based on their personal pocket book or their pride deserved no clients. A defeated Oikawa then stormed out, with justice delivered.

Ayabe telling Yagami about the Kyorei-kai

Shintani arrived just as the Otaki family left, and Yagami attempted to warn him about the threat Hamura posed. The discussion was short-lived, as the confrontation between the two rivals hit a boiling point when Shintani revealed that he knew something more about "the Mole," and he then stormed out of the office. Shortly after, Kaito told Yagami that Ayabe would be willing to talk with him at Tender. Yagami and Kaito stopped by Tender and met with Ayabe, who revealed that, while the Kyorei had 1,000 men to the Tojo's 2,000, they had moved into Kabukicho with the financial backing of wealthy businessman Shigeru Kajihira, who had a subsidiary company in Kabukicho. He was also alleged to schmooze with politicians, government officials, and even the Minister of Health, Naohisa Kazami. Ayabe also revealed that the "Mole" nickname Yagami had cooked up made its way into the police casefiles.

Before Yagami and Kaito could take their leave, Kuroiwa of the TMPD arrived, and he saw through Ayabe's feigned ignorance. As Yagami left, Kuroiwa jeered at the results of Yagami's past legal work, saying that he said that he had released a murderer, and questioned who the next victim would be.

Ignoring this, Yagami and Kaito decided to investigate the Kyorei-kai further. The two headed to the rooftop across from KJ Art to surveil the building with their drone, only for Murase to spot their drone and mockingly wave at it. Two gunmen held Yagami and Kaito at gunpoint on their rooftop before Captain Satoshi Shioya arrived and demanded to know who they were working for. Before Shioya could have the two men shot, Sugiura arrived and disarmed the gunmen before joining Yagami and Kaito in taking down the Kyorei-kai men. The group proceeded to flee to Charles, where the man unmasked himself and revealed his name, claiming to be a former systems engineer for the Kajihira Group who discovered that a slush fund was created to support the Kyorei Clan and the shell company KJ Art. He then agreed to work together with the Yagami Detective Agency, as he wanted to take down both the Mole and the Kyorei Clan.

On the way back to his office, Yagami received a call from Masuda, who requested his help with finding out the profession of his regular customer Mari Motoori, who offered a large sum of money to anyone who could guess. As Mari was inexplicably well-dressed and rich, Yagami guessed that she was a CEO's lover, but he and the three other customers failed to guess her profession. Yagami decided to tail her to find out her secret, following her to L'Amant, where she revealed that she knew he was following hre, and that she was a professional gambler. Yagami promised to keep her secret, and he got back to work on his case.

Back at his office, Yagami received a call from Saori, who said that Shintani hadn't been answering his calls, and that she wanted Yagami to call him. When Yagami called him, he heard a vibrating sound coming from his office's closet. When Yagami opened the door, Shintani's body fell onto the ground, and Yagami realized that his eyes had been gouged out. Yagami spent a sleepless night examining the body, and, in the morning, he checked Shintani's phone and realized that the last call he had made was not to the Genda Law Office. Kuroiwa and the police showed up shortly after and told Yagami that he would need to spend the night elsewhere, as his office was now a crime scene.

Yagami visiting Genda after Shintani's death

Yagami promptly travelled to the Genda Law Office, where the crew discussed the details of Shintani's death. Genda offered Yagami a place to sleep at the law office, and he also advised him to get out of town before he was targeted as well. Before Yagami could get any rest, Hoshino volunteered to help Yagami look into Shintani, despite Genda's reluctance to risk the life of another employee. Hoshino traced the number of Shintani's last call to the ADDC, and Yagami recalled how one of its patients had been brutally murdered back in 2015 and his body dumped in the mountains. He also revealed that said case involved Shinpei Okubo, his last client as a lawyer.

The following morning, Yagami decided to meet up with Hoshino at Charles. Along the way, he helped the sickly old man Keizo Iyama find mugwort, and, once the man consumed it, his spirits were restored, and he told Yagami that he was the "Hermit of the Dragon's Palace," who made extracts. He then took Yagami to the Dragon's Palace, where he sold Yagami some extracts to help him in battle.

On his way to Charles, Yagami observed a toupee blowing through the wind, and, on catching it, he found a flamboyantly-dressed man running after it. Yagami agreed to the man's request to give him the "hat" back in the alleyway, where the man revealed himself to be the idol Toya Tokunaga. On the man put his "hat" back on, he immediately changed character and started to arrogantly refer to himself in the third-person. Shortly after, Renji Honda challenged Yagami to another fight, but Yagami beat him down, causing Kim to text Yagami and thank him for his help, while saying that he and the community had put together a gift for Yagami to express their gratitude.

Investigating the ADDC[]

Back at Charles, Yagami, Higashi, Hoshino, Kaito, and Sugiura met, where they discussed the details of Shintani's death. Hoshino also caught them up about the ADDC's recent announcement of the AD-9 Alzheimer's drug, identifying some of the attendees at the announcement such as Ryusuke Kido, the ADDC's director.

Yagami at the ADD'C — Yagami at the ADDC

Yagami and Hoshino headed to the ADDC alone, concerned that the others might scare off the hospital staff. There, they asked the receptionist if they could meet with Kido. While the receptionist said that they could not speak without an appointment, Hoshino noticed Kido walking with Shono and Vice Minister of Health Kaoru Ichinose. Yagami confronted Kido and reintroduced himself, and he asked Kido about Shintani's last call; Kido reluctantly agreed to give Yagami and Hoshino an audience at his office. Kido revealed that the call was made to Shono, but said that Shono didn't know who Shintani was.

Kuroiwa and his men arriving at the ADDC

Just then, Kuroiwa, Kazuyuki Sakuraba, and several other TMPD officers arrived at Kido's office and demanded that Yagami give them an interview about Shintani's murder. Since there was no warrant, Yagami decided to pass on the interview, infuriating Kuroiwa and forcing the police to leave empty-handed. Yagami then decided that he needed to talk to Shono while he was still at the ADDC, as he desired to find out why Shintani had called him. At the reception desk, Yagami learned that Shono was in the research department.

Yagami and Hoshino struggled to find a way to enter the research wing, but the friendly assistant researcher Momoko Hashimoto offered to bring them to Shono's research lab. During their walk, Hashimoto said that 4.62 million Japanese suffered from Alzheimer's, a number that would likely increase to 7 million by 2025 and potentially up to 13 million, including at-risk patients. AD-9's fast-tracked development could end Alzheimer's as the world knew it, making it a crucial project for the ADDC to work on. Yagami then confronted a nervous Shono at his desk, and Shono feigned ignorance about Shintani's call, claiming that he didn't know why Shintani would call in the first place. Ichinose then arrived and asked Yagami and Hoshino not to disturb Shono's work, and the two men decided to investigate the Minister of Health's role in AD-9, tasking Sugiura with looking into it.

Yagami, Kaito, and Adachi having drinks at Tender

Yagami then returned to Kabukicho, where entrepreneur Shin Fujimori persuaded him to download his Quickstarter app and help crowdfund new businesses. Yagami also ran into Kaito meeting with his old friend Hayato Adachi, and Adachi invited the two to join him for drinks at Tender. There, he persuaded Yagami to loan Kaito to him to serve as a bodyguard. However, a curious Yagami followed Kaito and watched him beat up several men in the street on Adachi's behalf. Yagami returned to Tender and asked Masuda about Adachi, and Masuda said that he had only heard bad things about Adachi, who strongarmed his sellers and even put the yakuza to shame. Yagami then tracked Adachi down to Kanrai, where he overheard him talking with an associate about sending some "thirsty boys" to film their sexual assault of a rival's daughter so that they could blackmail him into making a deal with them.

Yagami confronted Kaito outside Kanrai before Kaito could join Adachi for a meal, and he confronted Kaito about the shady business that Adachi was involved with. Kaito chose to fight Yagami rather than let him boss him around, but Yagami defeated his friend in a fight before Adachi left the restaurant. Afterward, Kaito revealed that he knew about the rumors surrounding Adachi, and that he only wanted to get close enough to his old friend to see if the rumors were true. Adachi then ordered his men to kill the two men, saying that Kaito was meant to obey orders and not think, and that the two men knew too much. The two friends joined forces to take down Adachi and his men, and they fist-bumped to show that they were still friends.

They then headed to Koi Wife, where they met up with Sugiura. There, Sugiura revealed that the Kajihira Group wanted to redevelop the land belonging to the ADDC, and that, while Minister Kazami had agreed to close the ADDC after it met its original goal of solving Japan's aging population problem, thte development of AD-9 led to the hospital recovering its fortunes and reversing its impending closure. Much of this information was placed in the public through an article by Hattori.

Yagami decided to return to the Genda Law Office to find Hattori and glean information on AD-9 from him, only to find Mafuyu waiting for him instead. She revealed that Izumida wanted to question Yagami about Shintani's murder, but she said that she would do anything within her capabilities to help out Yagami. After she left, Yagami caught Hoshino up about the ADDC's dependence on AD-9. Shortly after, Sugiura gave Yagami a call notifing him that yakuza members were tailing Mafuyu. Yagmai headed to Theater Square and thwarted the mobsters' attempt to take Mafuyu into a van, and he interrogated them into revealing that they were members of the Kyorei-kai. Mafuyu then attempted to persuade Yagami to leave Kabukicho with her, but he told her that he had business to finish.

Sugiura then informed Yagami that the kidnappers' van had been tracked down to the Honmaruen cabaret club, and Yagami, Kaito, and Sugiura decided to storm the building. They fought their way through the Kyorei-kai before coming across Shioya in the main room, where he emerged from a crowd of female dancers after a dance number. After suggesting that a few of his men might have to lose their pinkies for failing to kidnap Mafuyu or stop Yagami and his friends, he announced his intention to settle their earlier score, and he loosed his men on Yagami and his allies. Yagami was able to defeat Shioya and his men, only for the wheelchair-bound Kajihira and Hattori to appear.

Kajihira revealed that he had ordered Shioya to kidnap Mafuyu to get Yagami's attention, and that he had been working with ADDC Vice Chair Toru Hashiki to accelerate the ADDC's closure. Kajihira believed that there was something suspicious going on with the ADDC and Hashiki's death in June 2018, as Hashiki was beaten to death not long after expressing his belief that AD-9 was a hoax. Kajihira revealed that he was 100 billion in the red now that the ADDC's impending closure was reversed, and he hired Yagami to look into Hashiki's murder. After Kajihira was wheeled away, Hattori revealed to Yagami that Kajihira had kidnapped him as well, and that he had been forced to reveal Yagami's relationship with Mafuyu.

Yagami then returned to his agency to rest for the night, and, the next morning, he decided to meet up with Hoshino back at the Genda Law Office. There, Hoshino said that the 51-year-old Hashiki had died six months earlier after spending three weeks in a coma, having been severely beaten by a man in a black raincoat. Hoshino supposed that the murder never made the news because it took so long for Hashiki to die, and Yagami realized that his killer must be a professional for that level of coordination. He then requested for Kaito to set up a meeting with Ayabe, but, as Ayabe was under Kuroiwa's supervision, they would need to meet up with Ayabe's replacement at L'Amant.

After fighting off a group of Matsugane hitmen, Yagami made his way to L'Amant, where he met with a blonde-haired woman at the bar. Mistaking the woman's straightforwardness for flirtation, Yagami began to express confusion about her directness, causing the annoyed woman to reveal that she was Mafuyu, in disbelief that Yagami did not recognize her sooner. She then handed him a file showing that Hashiki had been at the Queen Rouge club alongside Yoji Shono in teh time preceding his death, and he had allegedly gotten involved in a drunken brawl in an alleyway that same night and died three weeks later. Before leaving, Mafuyu also warned Yagami that Izumida intended to arrest him for Shintani's murder.

Yagami and Kaito recreating Hashiki's murder

Kaito then arrived at L'Amant, where he reviewed the files. He and Yagami headed over to the alleyway near Queen Rouge to attempt to recreate the murder scene, but they found no helpful clues. They then decided to speak with the manager Hideki Tegoshi, who was uninterested in helping them until they offered to introduce him to Saori Shirosaki, claiming that she had an interest in becoming a hostess. Tegoshi was smitten with her and demanded that they bring her along, causing Yagami and Kaito to grow confused as to how Tegoshi could find her so attractive.

Knowing that Saori would need convincing, Yagami decided to buy her desserts from a new Kyoto pastry shop. He found the owner confronted by several yakuza who were angry that his new chocolate had sold out, but Yagami stepped in and beat them up. The owner, Toyomi Katanuma, realized that he had a stash of chocolates used for commercials, and, out of gratitude for Yagami's help, he gave him some to bribe Saori. Yagami also defeated Renji Honda in another street battle before heading to the Genda Law Office. There, Genda - while acknowledging the pain that Shintani's death had caused him - said that he would support Yagami's continued investigation on the condition that there were no more victims. Yagami agreed, and he then attempted to enlist Saori's help with posing as a hostess. He and Genda said that she didn't need to become the number-one hostess, but she continued to refuse until Hoshino said that they should treat her like she could be the number-one hostess, expressing his belief in how beautiful she was. She agreed once the two men agreed to see the potential beauty in her, and Yagami took her shopping on the company's dime, giving her a total makeover.

Yagami then took her to Queen Rouge, where she worked as a hostess for the night before getting close to Mika, the hostess who had entertained Hashiki on the night of his murder. Meanwhile, Yagami received a call from Kaito asking for help, and he found that a 5-year-old kid, Yusuke Okabayashi, was demanding that he impersonate the superhero "Captain Cop" as he waited for his debt collector father to come home from work. Yagami decided to search for the kid's father, saving the debt collector Kazufumi Kawaguchi, owner of Turtle Financing, along the way. Kawaguchi revealed that both Kenta Kasai and Renji Honda owed him 800,000 yen, and that he had information on Okabayashi's workplace, Yakumaru Loans, if Yagami could pay up or collect the Keihin Gang's debts. Not looking to waste time searching out the Keihin Four, Yagami instead paid 100,000 for the location of Yakumaru Loans on East Taihei Boulevard. There, Yagami found that Shintaro Okabayashi was being extorted by the Ushimata-gumi, who wanted him to hand over his winning lottery ticket (worth 50 million yen) lest they take his son.

On returning to the Children's Park with Shintaro, Yagami found that the kid had run away from Kaito, and that the Ushimata-gumi asked Shintaro to meet them in the Golden Gai. There, they found the Ushimata-gumi officer Kentaro Ishimura holding Yusuke captive at an empty lot. Yagami had Kaito pose as a drunk man to get close to Ishimura, only to steal and discard his gun.

Yusuke bidding farewell to Kaito and Yagami

Yagami and Kaito then took down the Ushimata-gumi henchmen and rescued Yusuke, who hailed Kaito as the real "Captain Cop." Kaito then obliged the kid by imitating Captain Cop's signature gestures while holding his wand, but he then announced that he would retire now that he had found a worthy successor, Yusuke.

The two men then took their leave, but it was not long before the Keihin Gang ambushed Yagami at the Theater Square. There, Kasai showed up with the obese Kaito Sakakiba at his side. Kasai promised Sakakiba dinner and even desert if he defeated Yagami, and Sakakiba agreed after Kasai agreed that curry could count as dessert. In the ensuing fight, however, Yagami took down Sakakiba and his sumo-build henchmen, and Sakakiba decided to leave now that it was dinner time. Yagami also decided to eat, visiting Akaushimaru and befriending the Chinese immigrant cashier Haoyu Xiu, who was new to Japan and had learned its language through its music.

Afterwards, Yagami returned to the agency, where Kuroiwa, Sakuraba, and Ayabe waited for him. Kuroiwa told Yagami that there was a spy in the prosecutor's office who was leaking highly classified police intelligence, and that a file about the ADDC vice-director's death was chief among them. While Yagami feigned ignorance, Kuroiwa then ordered him to come to the prosecutor's office to discuss Shintani's murder, assuring him that he would have to come in cuffs if need be, but that he needn't worry if he was innocent.

After the police left, Yagami received a call from Saori, who said that she and Mika were meeting at Tender. Yagami joined them there to ask questions about the circumstances around Hashiki's death, and Mika related how Hashiki had told her about the ADDC making secret deals, causing Yagami to wonder if Kido was working with the yakuza. Mika also said that Hashiki would be getting a "slice of the pie" if the ADDC shut down, and she also commented on how he snuck glances at her. Realizing that Kajiwara and Hashiki had a deal, Yagami thanked Mika for her help. When Mika said that she would see Saori the next day, Saori said that she wouldn't be coming back, but she handed Mika her business card and said that she'd like to help her if she was ever in need, causing Mika to be excited to finally have a lawyer friend.

Yagami and Saori returning to the Genda Law Office

Yagami and Saori then returned to the Genda Law Office, where Genda and Kaito were surprised to see how good Saori looked; she merely snapped, "I'm changing" and returned to her old, goth appearance. Yagami then told the others that Hashiki doubted the authenticity of the AD-9 research, convinced that they had fabricated data. Kaito realized that they must have murdered Hashiki to keep the secret safe.

Yagami then headed back to his office, and, the next morning, Yagami once again woke up to Ayabe sitting in his chair. Ayabe relayed a message from Mafuyu asking Yagami to meet Izumida at the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office, and Yagami and Mafuyu headed there together. There, the prosecutors attempted to pry information from Yagami about Shintani's murder. However, they eventually decided to hear Yagami's side of the story, and Yagami told them about Hashiki's murder and his belief that anyone who was close to discovering about AD-9 was seen as a mere obstacle. While explaining his theory, Morita was interrupted by a phone call revealing that their arrest warrant had gone through. Yagami feared that, even despite revealing his findings, he would be arrested for murder, but Morita revealed that the warrant was for Ayabe, as the rifling on the bullets that killed Shintani matched his gun. Izumida then remarked that Yagami and Ayabe had gotten "buddy-buddy", and Morita revealed that Ayabe was leaking confidential police intel outside the force, resulting in an investigation. Before Yagami could leave, Ayabe called him and claimed to have been set up, and Yagami agreed to take on Ayabe's case as the prosecutors watched.

Yagami and Hoshino visiting Ayabe in jail

Yagami then met up with Hoshino back in Kabukicho and visited Ayabe in jail. Ayabe admitted that his gun had been used in the murder because of the rifling, but he claimed to have been set up, as, on the night of Shintani's murder, he had been ambushed while leaving Tender. He was knocked out, only to wake up at the Children's Park an hour later. As his gun was on his person when he awoke, he figured that Shintani's killer must have taken his gun and killed Shintani within the hour of his unconsciousness before returning the gun before he woke up. Yagami, with no leads, decided that the only one close to "the Mole" would be Hamura, so he headed to Charles to ask Higashi for Matsugane's whereabouts. After contacting his boss, Higashi arranged a meeting between Matsugane and Yagami at the Kabuki Kikunoya restaurant.

Higashi, Yagami, and Kaito drinking with Matsugane

Yagami, Higashi, and Kaito met with Matsugane that night, sharing tea before talking about Hamura. Matsugane said that Yagami shouldn't continue to chase Hamura and the Mole, as Matsugane said that Hamura was the only thing keeping the family afloat, and Hamura and the Mole had deep ties to powerful people. Shortly after, a group of yakuza approached the room, and Matsugane said that, if Yagami refused to give up his search, he would have to take him out of commission for a while. Higashi was forced to side with the family to prove his continued loyalty, and Yagami and Kaito took down the Matsugane men. Matsugane commended their strength and persistence, and he revealed that the Mole was employed by Hamura as a hired gun, and that only Hamura knew his face. When Yagami expressed his disbelief that the Matsugane Family would never turn a blind eye to cold-blooded murder, Matsugane lamented that times had changed and Hamura had become the Matsugane Family.

Back in Kabukicho, Yagami decided that the best way to find Hamura would be to wiretap the Matsugane-gumi. Along the way, he defeated Kasai and Sakakiba and forced them to repay their 800,000 yen loans to Turtle Financing, and he used his reward to pay for wiretaps from Tsukumo. On his way to the Matsugane-gumi offices, he noticed a billboard announcing that the 44-year-old Abashiri Prison inmate Tatsuya Gamo had escaped prison on 5 November and was in Kabukicho. As the police promised a million-yen bounty for Gamo's recapture, Yagami decided to keep his eye open for the escapee.

Back at the agency, Yagami, Kaito, and Sugiura plotted how to infiltrate the Matsugane Family office. Kaito suggested that Yagami impersonate the yakuza Takeru Tashiro, who had a similar build and appearance to Yagami, and who was known for his flashy, custom-made Italian fabric gold tracksuit. Yagami was told that Tashiro had just visited the Emerald Hills club, so Yagami headed there and learned from the bouncer that Tashiro had headed to an alley of ill-repute off Tenkaichi Street. There, Yagami and Kaito confronted Tashiro as he tried to extort a debtor, and Yagami demanded Tashiro's clothing. Tashiro protested, as he valued his expensive outfit, but Yagami defeated him in a fight, stripped him, dyed his hair blonde, and wore a face mask to cover the rest of his face. Yagami then tasked Kaito with caring for the half-naked Tashiro lest he become ill from the winter cold.

Yagami then made his way into the Matsugane Family offices, where several guards, believing him to be Tashiro, complimented him and invited him to hit up some clubs later. Yagami was able to place several wiretaps around the Matsugane Family offices before being discovered in Matsugane's room, causing one of the yakuza to remove his mask and realize that he was Yagami. Yagami was forced to fight his way out of the lion's mouth, running off with Sugiura. He then learned from the wiretap that Hamura frequented a secret cho-han gambling parlor, and he decided to visit L'Amant to find cho-han players to interview.

Yagami trying to seduce the voluptuous woman

At the casino, Yagami met a man who knew of the secret parlor, but asked Yagami to help him seduce the voluptuous gambler Junko Edayoshi in exchange for his help. Yagami joined Edayoshi at her poker table, where she flirted with him and challenged him to a game of poker, agreeing to meet Yagami's "friend" if Yagami could defeat her. While she defeated Yagami, she still agreed to meet his "friend." The man revealed that the cho-han parlor was in an underground facility located in the Champion District, giving him the steak-themed passcode.

Yagami then met with Kaito at Koi Wife before heading over to the Champion District. He successfully gained access to the gambling hall, where he and Kaito spotted Hamura playing a dice game with Ozaki and several bodyguards. In the ensuing fight, Kaito and Yagami defeated their strong opponents, beating Hamura and forcing the captain to back up against a wall.

Kaito was finally able to confront Hamura over masterminding his expulsion from the family, but Hamura remained silent in the face of Kaito and Yagami's questioning. Yagami also asked Hamura if it was correct that Shintani had found something that tied the Kabukicho killings to the ADDC, but Hamura could only menacingly grin at Yagami. Yagami also asked if Kido from the ADDC wasn't the "real maestro", but, judging from Hamura's expression, he realizd he was wrong. Instead, he realized that Shintani had asked for Shono when he called the ADDC, and that Hashiki was trying to get info out of Shono until he died as well. Before he could question Hamura further, a fire broke out in the parlor, and Hamura escaped as Yagami and Kaito hid behind the counter, surviving a bomb explosion.

The AD-9 conspiracy[]

After cleaning up, Yagami met with Hoshino the next morning as the Champion District bombing made the news. Yagami informed Hoshino of Shono's involvement in the murders, and Hoshino stated his belief that the next best lead would be to look into AD-9, which Hattori had researched. He then told Yagami that Hattori would be willing to meet him at Kyushu No. 1 Star to talk about AD-9, and Yagami swallowed his pride before meeting with Hattori and reluctantly sharing a bowl of ramen with him. Hattori told Yagami about AD-9, which was meant to help the one in four people over the age of 80 who were affected by dementia. While AD-9 held great promise as a potential Alzheimer's cure, Hashiki had come to tuspect that something fishy was going on with AD-9 at the time of his death. Hattori then expressed his own belief that the ADDC should push forward faster, even if the paper on AD-9 was a little rough around the edges. He also revealed that, while Kido was listed as the research paper's lead author, Shono was the key researcher.

With this information in mind, Yagami decided to head back to his office, where he and his team reviewed the facts of the case. When Yagami said that AD-9 was just about ready to be tested on real human subjects, Hoshino expressed the idea that the Mole's murders might all just be experimental trials for AD-9, as the drug might be lethal to humans and not to the mice it was tested on; Yagami realized that the ADDC may have tested AD-9 on the the Kyorei-kai men, causing their deaths. Hoshino also realized that AD-9 could be tested on healthy humans, and Sugiura reminded Yagami of how that was Yagami's case three years earlier at the ADDC. Yagami theorized that, even while Waku was killed in a failed AD-9 test, the tests were ongoing, explaining why Hamura had the Kyorei-kai men killed. Sugiura asked how Shono had yakuza ties, and Hoshino suspected that Kido was responsible. The conversation took a turn for the worse when Terasawa's death was brought up, and Sugiura asked if Yagami still couldn't face the fact that her death was his fault. An argument nearly broke out, but Sugiura decided that they would have to know if Okubo was really innocent, or that he really did kill Waku at the ADDC. Yagami decided to review Okubo's case files before visiting the man in prison.

Yagami paid a visit to the Genda Law Office, where Saori gave him the files on Terasawa's death, and Yagami recalled the details of her 2 December 2015 death. When Yagami began to feel remorse over failing Emi, Genda rebuked him, telling him that Yagami's own father believed, "It's not the defense's job to uncover the truth. It's to challenge the prosecution to make an indisputable argument." He then commended how Yagami had defended Okubo perfectly, and he said that both of them saw what happened when Yagami didn't go pursue the truth. With newfound confidence, Yagami traveled to the jail with Hoshino and visited Okubo, expressing his theory that Waku's death was an AD-9-related accident, and that Shono had framed Okubo in order to cover up AD-9's failure. Okubo was shocked that Emi's killer was just laughing, waiting for him to die, and he maintained his innocence and that he had never killed anyone.

A stressed Yagami returned to Kabukicho and decided to stop by Tender for a drink. There, Kuroiwa confronted Yagami and questioned his involvement in helping out with the investigation of Kazuya Ayabe. Before Yagami could do anything, the cane-wielding assassin Masashi Suzaki appeared and threatened Yagami. Yagami told Hoshino to stay back as he beat down the mysterious assassin, and he then called Kaito and reported that someone, likely sent by Hamura, had just tried to murder him. He then decided to head over to KJ Art now that the Kyorei-kai were on friendly terms with the agency.

Yagami and Hoshino were given a friendly welcome on their arrival, and, when they entered the office, they found Akira Murase giving Kaito a back rub, with Kaito gloating that Shioya had told his men to do whatever their detective allies asked. Murase then invited Yagami and Hoshino to sit down and take a load off, and, there, Yagami decided that he needed to return to the ADDC, where he could confront Shono in the lobby and demand answers. While Kaito volunteered to go with Yagami, Yagami said that the people at the hospital might be scared of a yakuza, so Sugiura accompanied Yagami instead.

Yagami and Sugiura infiltrating the ADDC

Yagami and Sugiura arrived at night, and they bumped into Hashimoto before noticing Shono nearby. They were prevented from talking with Shono by Vice Minister Ichinose himself, who ordered them to leave immediately, saying that he never wanted to see them in the ADDC again. Ichinose assigned a large detail of security to escort the two interlopers out, but Yagami grew suspicious of how many of them there were. Their leader Hiroki Mashiko then revealed that he had been ordered to ensure that Yagami and Sugiura would never return, and he produced an electrified baton. Yagami and Sugiura were able to fight off the guards and steal two of their outfits, deciding to sneak into the ADDC via its loading docks. The two men decided to spend the night there and slip into the research wing in the morning.

Once Shono and his cohort of scientists made their daily walk through the research wing the next morning, they found Yagami and Sugiura sitting in a waiting area. Yagami then demanded to speak with Shono, who said that he had nothing to talk to them about, and began to run. Yagami and Sugiura were forced to fight off Shono's colleagues and then several security guards before cornering Shono in the room where Wako had died. There, Yagami confronted Shono and let him know everything he was thinking, including that he had worked with the Mole and killed Emi, and, while Shono denied everything or remained quiet, Yagami said that his eyes told the truth. Kido then arrived and demanded that Yagami and Sugiura leave, and they agreed, leaving without further incident, now that they had all but confirmed Shono's guilt. On the way back to Kabukicho, Yagami stopped by Okubo's cell and apologized to him for doubting his innocence, and he tearfully asked for the opportunity to make things right. This touched Okubo, who said that he should be asking the same of Yagami.

During the van ride back to Kabukicho, Yagami, Kaito, and Sugiura realized the only way to prove the existence of "the Mole" was by getting to Hamura. Yagami decided to use his drone to infiltrate the Matsugane-gumi office, and he realized that many members believed that Higashi was getting too much of an ego now that Hamura was on the run. Yagami then tailed Higashi as he left the building, and Higashi ultimately led Yagami into an alleyway, where he revealed that he knew Yagami was following him. Higashi then revealed that the entire city was trying to kill Yagami, giving him a warning. Kaito decided that the best plan of action would be to lure out the Matsugane-gumi, and he advised Yagami to make himself vulnerable by walking alone in public.

Yagami confronting the yakuza outside Alvin

Yagami killed time at Tender, where he lost a bet to Mari while attempting to guess how many drinks would make a recently-arrived, nearby customer have to use the restroom. Afterwards, Kaito called Yagami and conceded that Yagami's plan to lure out the Matsugane was not working, so he advised him to go to the Alvin Pub & Standing Bar, a Matsugane-owned club. Sure enough, Yagami rescued the manager from three Matsugane thugs, after which Kaito advised him to visit Romance of the Three Kinkdoms, Fantastic Romance, and Sweet Billow to attract further attention. There, he asked the managers to spread word that "Yagami" had visited. At Fantastic Romance, Yagami rescued the manager from another pack of thugs.

When Yagami headed to the Champion District to stir up more trouble, he was ambushed by several Matsugane-gumi yakuza, but Kaito arrived just in time to help Yagami fight them off. Yagami then pursued one of the fleeing hitmen to Little Asia, where Hamura emerged with a badly-beaten Higashi in town. Patriarch Matsugane also showed himself, and he held Kaito and Yagami at gunpoint and rebuked Yagami for not minding his own business. When Matsugane asked if killing Yagami was necessary, Hamura turned his gun on the patriarch and asked if he hadn't pulled enough of the family's weight already before reminding Matsugane that his loyalty was to the family, and not his adoptive sons, first. Kaito grew angry when Hamura aimed his gun at Matsugane, and he stepped in front of Matsugane. An infuriated Hamura shot Kaito in the abdomen, but, before Yagami could be executed, Sugiura arrived and rescued Yagami, leaving a wounded Kaito in Matsugane's care, to be taken away by Hamura.

Sugiura informed Yagami that the wiretap at the Matsugane office helped him pinpoint Kaito's location at the abandoned Soleil Building. There, Yagami and Sugiura fought their way through the building's floors, with Yagami battling the cane-wielding Suzaki several times before defeating him once and for all. Yagami then confronted Hamura as he kept an injured Kaito tied up at the top floor, and Yagami taunted Hamura for not trying to run this time. Kaito headbutted Hamura as he traded insults with Yagami, enabling Yagami to run up to Hamura, toss away his gun, and defeat him in a fistfight.

Yagami then rescued Kaito, and Sugiura, Higashi, and Matsugane arrived shortly after, with Matsugana amused that not even the threat of death stopped Yagami and Kaito. Yagami then attempted to interrogate Hamura about the Mole's identity, but Hamura said that there were some people one could get away with betraying, while there were others they couldn't. Matsugane then asked if he was among the former. Yagami then told Hamura that he would either die betraying the Mole or defending him, aiming a gun at him. When Hamura said that he would rather die than answer Yagami, Matsugane warned Yagami that the Matsugane-gumi would soon arrive, so they decided to take the captive Hamura to the Honmaruen cabaret for further questioning.

At Honmaruen, Shioya was amused to see the patriarch of the Matsugane-gumi join them, but Yagami assured him that Matsugane was their ally in the fight against the Mole. Shioya and Matsugane then watched as Yagami and Kaito interrogated Hamura, who, despite refusing to give up the killer's identity, said that he was a policeman-turned-assassin who had been working with Hamura for years in exchange for taking a cut of the Mole's earnings as a hitman. Through this work, Hamura had been able to save the Matsugane-gumi from bankruptcy. He also revealed that Vice-Minister Ichinose had hired him and the Mole to kill Hashiki for trying to sabotage AD-9. The hit was so successful that Ichinose hired them again, with Mitsuru Ishimatsu recruiting him to kidnap Kyorei-kai yakuza for AD-9 trials. Hamura and the Mole decided to use the Kyorei-kai as subjects since their deaths would seem like gang war casualties, although Hamura admitted that Shintani's murder was his fault. Afraid that he would be convicted for Kume's murder, he had divulged to Shintani that Shono was connected to the murder, only for Ichinose to order Shintani's death after he began to investigate Shono. Shioya was impressed by Yagami's questioning, and Matsugane gloated that he had put Yagami through law school.

Several minutes into the questioning, Yagami began to smell smoke, as the Matsugane-gumi, led by Kengo Kajikawa and Kojiro Ozaki, began to attack the building. Yagami and the others were surprised to see a tearful Murase sent towards them while wearing a suicide vest, and Murase cried out his boss' name before his Matsugane captors detonated his bomb prematurely, failing to kill Shioya. The Matsugane-gumi then stormed the burning building, beating Shioya before Yagami escorted Matsugane and a captive Hamura towards the exit, fighting off the yakuza along the way. However, they were stopped by the arrival of the Mole, dressed in a dark raincoat that concealed his identity.

The Mole attempted to shoot Hamura to prevent him from divulging his true identity, but Matsugane took the bullets for him. The Mole was forced to flee as the fire spread, leaving Hamura and Yagami to mourn Matsugane, who forgave Hamura for his betrayal and said that it was his fault that Hamura had to resort to murder to save the family from ruin. Moved by Matsugane's sacrifice, Hamura told Yagami that Kuroiwa was the Mole, and he then departed to go into hiding.

As the fire department and police arrived at the scene, Kuroiwa arrived and took Yagami to police headquarters for questioning. During the one-on-one interrogation, Yagaim revealed that he knew the truth about Kuroiwa, and that he wouldn't stop until he, Shono, and Vice-Minister Ichinose paid for their crimes. An unfazed Kuroiwa admitted to everything, and he warned Yagami that, as soon as he got the chance, he would kill him and his entire team. He then let Yagami go as another policeman entered the room to let Kuroiwa know about a phone call.

Yagami then returned to his office, but, before he could do so, a boy approached him with a wrapped gift, saying that some man had asked him to give it to Yagami. When Yagami opened it, he found that it was a grenade, but it exploded into confetti, much to Yagami's relief. Keihin Gang leader Matsuhisa Koga then revealed himself and jokingly asked if Yagami enjoyed his present. He then revealed himself to be one of the "Keihin Four", and told Yagami that, thanks to his antics, the Keihin Gang's reputation had taken quite a hit. Several of his suit-wearing thugs then arrived to attack Yagami, but Yagami fought them off as Koga watched. When Yagami asked Koga if he wanted to fight, Koga said, "In the business world, one must always know when to withdraw." He then made his egress, leaving Yagami to rest at his agency.

The next morning, Yagami received a phone call from Mafuyu, who told him that the Mole had claimed another victim, another Kyorei-kai yakuza. After defeating Sakakiba and Koga in street fights and meeting the massage therapist Sakura Amamiya, he arrived at the scene of the crime, where he was joined by Mafuyu. Mafuyu revealed that Shioya, the Kyorei-kai captain, had been murdered, and remembered that Yagami had known him. Yagami then told Mafuyu that the Mole and Hamura had been working together for years, and that the Mole was just following orders for Shono from the ADDC. Unfettered by Shioya's death, he revealed the Mole's true identity and vowed that he would stop Shono and Ichinose's conspiracy to avenge Matsugane's death.

Yagami, Kaito, a bereaved Genda, and a few others then attended Matsugane's funeral at the Tojo headquarters, but, because of the small size of Matsugane's family, it was poorly attended. Yagami and Hoshino later met with Izumida, where they maintained that Ayabe was set up, and they then visited Ayabe in prison and learned that Kuroiwa had inherited his Tojo-linked boss' connections on his murder, making him incredibly powerful. Yagami and Kaito then met with Hattori, whom they told about the AD-9-related murders and Shono's responsibility. Hattori invited Yagami and Kaito to meet with Kajihira, who had more information that might be helpful.

The next day, Kaito and Yagami met with Kajihira and Hattori at Kikunoya, where Kajihira initiated their meeting by leading a toast in honor of the late Matsugane. Yagami and Kaito then briefed the two men on all their findings, and Hattori suggested that they get information out of the least committed member of the conspiracy, Kido. He also revealed that Kido had a reputation for being a womanizer, something they could use to their advantage. However, their window of time would be brief, as Kajihira warned Yagami that Okubo was on a secret list of people whose executions were to be fast-tracked. Yagami and Kaito then realized that they had a seductress in mind.

On returning to Kabukicho, Yagami discovered the fugitive Gamo hiding in an alleyway, where he was eating a burger by a fire. He watched as a group of thugs who had come to collect Gamo's bounty were easily dispatched, but he then stepped in to test his own strength. Yagami was able to overpower the immensely powerful Gamo and call the police, and Gamo said that he could go back to prison happily now that he had finally had the chance to eat a burger again. Yagami joked that there would likely be no burgers back at the interrogation room, and Gamo went back to prison in good spirits.

Yagami then returned to the Genda Law Office, where he persuaded Saori to return to her acting again, with Hoshino encouraging her. Yagami once again gave Saori a makeover at Hair Salon Cherry, this time persuading her to pose as a journalist who would interview Kido about AD-9. Yagami concealed a camera in Saori's purse before Hoshino, head over heels in love with Saori, drove her to the ADDC. There, she was allowed to interview Kido without an appointment after Kido took an immediate liking to her. She flirted with him until she could goad him into groping her on camera, after which she invited him to meet her at the Yoshida Batting Center in Kabukicho that evening.

Yagami and Kaito fighting off the Health Ministry thugs

Yagami, Sugiura, Higashi, and Kaito ambushed Kido when he arrived at the batting center, with Saori nowhere to be seen. Before they could interrogate Kido, however, Kido brought forth a large group of armed homeless men, causing Kaito to ask if the Ministry had been tapping into the city gutters. The friends easily defeated Kido before taking down the Ministry of Health thugs, and they proceeded to strip Kido half-naked and question him.

Kido was initially uncooperative, but he buckled whenever Sugiura threatened to upload the molestation video to the internet and ruin Kido's career. Kido was forced to reveal that the scientists' theories about the AD-9 human experiments being lethal were correct, and that Yoji Shono was indeed behind the murders of Waku and Terasawa. He also revealed that the hitmen were from the Ministry of Health, that Ichinose had founded the ADDC to make it a place for all the old-guard Ministry executives to retire to, that Ichinose had ordered Shono and Kido to silence Hashiki after they told Ichinose about their conspiracy, that money flowed into the ADDC directly from the Ministry of Health, and that said money had been used to enable Shono to build a secret lab in Kabukicho. Yagami realized that the Kyorei-kai men had been slaughtered at that lab, as it would take too long for them to be taken to the ADDC for experimentation. While Kido did not know the lab's location, he revealed that Ichinose's subordinate Ishimatsu might know, and that Ishimatsu worked at the Ministry of Health office at the Millennium Tower. Yagami had Kido warn Ishimatsu that the detectives were onto Shono's hideout, and he had Kido provide a physical description of Ishimatsu before Sugiura found a photo of the man standing near Ichinose. Yagami then headed to the Millennium Tower to find Ishimatsu as he received Kido's phone call.

Yagami recognized Ishimatsu from his odd habit of always wearing gloves, and he was able to tail him to Monsieur Lee, a closed-down love hotel. Once there, Yagami called Mafuyu andtold her to bring the police and the chief prosecutor to the hotel. He and Sugiura then broke into the lab, fighting their way past additional Health Ministry hitmen. Sugiura was briefly kidnapped by some of the hitmen, but Yagami saved him from being hanged and cut him down. The two men also used an electric massage tool to electrocute a masked BDSM addict nicknamed "the Hangman" before defeating him in a fight and finding the entrance to Shono's lab.

Coincidentally, Yagami and Sugiura found Shono there, and Sugiura filmed the lab on his cell phone as Yagami confronted Shono over his murders. However, Sugiura then pulled a knife on Shono and revealed to Yagami that he had lied about his identity and his reason for joining their investigation; his real name was Fumiya Terasawa, Emi's younger brothers, and he joined Yagami because he wished to sabotage Yagami's comeback as a lawyer due to his culpability in Emi's death. Having learned the truth about Emi's murder, however, he decided to truly help Yagami and his team.

Before Sugiura could stab Shono, the police and prosecutors arrived. Yagami attempted to persuade Morita to search the place, telling him about the lab's purpose and that they would find evidence of the experiments if they conducted a search. While Morita said that he could not investigate the lab if it wasn't a crime scene, Yagami said that the police could arrest him for trespassing and use that opportunity to conduct a search. Just then, Ichinose arrived, and he protested that the police could not search a highly-confidential Ministry of Health facility, even though Yagami pointed out that it was in a love hotel. Morita refused to search the lab, agreeing with Ichinose, causing Yagami to realize that Morita was part of the AD-9 conspiracy as well. He and Sugiura were then removed from the building, but Ichinose told them that Kido had been rescued from "a couple of ruffians" before they left. On returning to Charles, Yagami and Sugiura found that Kaito and Higashi had taken a sever beating from the Mole, who had escaped with Kido. As Yagami caught the group up on Morita's betrayal, Sugiura told the others about his motives for joining the group, but Yagami suspected that Sugiura had wanted to learn the truth all along.

Later that evening, Mafuyu asked Yagami and Kaito to meet her at Tender. There, she expressed her disbelief in Morita's betrayal, while saying that something had happened to his family ten years earlier that may have influenced his decision. She revealed that she had a contact, Uzawa, who had been the lead investigator for the death of Morita's mother, and who could provide documents about the case to the trio at the Children's Park. Along the way, Health Ministry hitmen arrived, and Yagami and Kaito, emboldened to defend Mafuyu, fought off several groups of thugs before reaching the park.

There, Yagami and Kaito were surprised to recognize Uzawa as the detective whom they had collected a debt from days earlier. However, Uzawa still agreed to help them, and Mafuyu, reading the files, revealed that Morita's older brother had strangled their mother to death ten years earlier, having been her caretaker during her battle with Alzheimer's, and having grown tired of her deluded assaults and accusations. Yagami realized that Morita blamed Alzheimer's for his family's suffering, explaining his support for the AD-9 project. While Mafuyu attempted to justify Morita's actions, Kaito berated her for excusing his framing of Ayabe, his turning of a blind eye to Emi's murder, and his leaving of Okubo to rot. She then conceded that Morita was on the wrong side, and she vowed to help Yagami stop Morita. As Yagami left, Uzawa asked if he really was a lawyer, and Yagami said that he still had his license, before advising him to stay away from horse betting.

Yagami and Mafuyu walking in on Hoshino and Saori

Mafuyu then asked Yagami if she could do her the favor of taking her to the Genda Law Office, as she knew that Saori would be happy to see the two of them together again. There, they walked in on Hoshino and Saori holding hands, amusing and surprising them. Hoshino was initially embarassed before toughening up, and the four of them then sat down to dsiscuss their new knowledge. Saori advised that Hoshino couldn't handle the pressure of representing Ayabe in court, so Yagami would have to step in. Yagami reluctantly agreed to return to the courtroom after Mafuyu said that, if he wanted to show the world his ideals, then was the time.

While the Genda Law Office requested to switch lawyers, Yagami walked Mafuyu to a taxi. When Mafuyu received a phone call from Izumida asking to meet at Mijore, she persuaded Yagami to go in her stead. While the situation was initially tense between the two men, Izumida was convinced to help Yagami when Yagami shared the files on the death of Morita's mother. Yagami then revealed his plan to use Ayabe's trial to bring all the dark truths of AD-9 into the light, and he requested that Izumida bring Ichinose the trial, supposedly to answer questions about AD-9, but really so that Yagami could question him about the murders and turn the tables on him.

Preparing for the trial[]

The next day, Genda and Ayabe accepted Yagami as Ayabe's new attorney. To prepare for the trial, Yagami first decided to tie up any loose ends. As Kengo had become the de facto leader of the Matsugane-gumi in Hamura's absence, Higashi persuaded Yagami to join him in heading to the Matsugane-gumi offices to tell Kengo of the Mole's identity and persuade him to help them take down the Mole rather than recklessly risk their lives. At the Matsugane Family offices, Yagami found Kengo sitting with a katana, out for blood. When Yagami attempted to persuade Kengo to back down, he and his family put up their dukes, and Yagami was forced to beat them down before persuading Kengo not to get in the way of his plan. He then revealed that Kuroiwa, a community police officer, was the Mole, and Higashi persuaded the Matsugane Family not to go after Kuroiwa themselves lest they be killed or jailed. Instead, the Matsugane Family would protect Yagami and his allies so they would not be killed before the trial.

Yagami telling Okubo about Sugiura's offer

Yagami then decided to visit Okubo one last time before the trial to reassure him of the group's plan. Before Yagami left, Sugiura asked him to relay a message to Okubo: he wanted to visit Emi's grave with Okubo once the latter was released. Yagami visited Okubo and told him of his plan to snare Ichinose, the man behind AD-9, and he also related Sugiura's invitation, causing Okubo to grow happy that he had achieved the forgiveness of Emi's brother.

On returning to Kabukicho, Yagami met up with Hoshino, who wanted to persuade Kido to testify at Ayabe's trial. The two visited the ADDC and secured a meeting with Kido in his office; Hoshino tried to persuade Kido to testify against SHono on the condition that he claim that he only learned about the murders recently, thus exculpating himself. When Kido refused to testify against his powerful allies, Hoshino threatened to release the video, but Kido said that he would rather Hoshino do so, lest he be murdered by the Mole for testifying. Yagami told Hoshino that they would not release the video, causing the two to argue, with Hoshino saying that he wanted to win the case. He then stormed out, but Yagami persuaded Kido to testify before leaving. Back in Kabukicho, Sugiura informed Yagami that Izumida wanted to talk with Yagami at Genda's law office.

At the office, Izumida warned Yagami that Kuroiwa had men monitoring Yagami's agency from top to bottom. However, he revealed that he had persuaded Ichinose to testify, warning that Shono would make a poor witness. Yagami thanked Izumida for helping put Ichinose out in the open, but, moments later, he received a call from Mafuyu alerting him to a police raid on L'Amant. Kaito suggested that Kuroiwa was likely there, so the two men decided to confront Morita and convince him to switch sides.

Yagami and Kaito were allowed inside by Morita, who waved off the policemen at the front. There, Yagami revealed that he knew Morita's backstory, and Morita filled them in on his perspective. He then revealed that Ichinose had looked into his family history and recruited him into the AD-9 conspiracy after reminding him of his own mother's battle with Alzheimer's. Yagami asked him to do the right thing, repeating the syaing, "Fire tempers iron, and temptation steels the just." Morita revealed that his guilt was the only reason he had let Yagami carry on, but Yagami criticized Morita for playing the victim and nearly fought him before Kuroiwa arrived.

Kuroiwa persuaded Morita to leave the room as he prepared to deal with Yagami and Kaito, sneering that Morita always knew how to look the other way. Yagami insisted on taking on Kuroiwa alone to finish what they had started at Honmaruen. In the ensuing fight, Yagami narrowly overcame the much stronger Kuroiwa. Kuroiwa resorted to aiming a gun at Yagami, but Morita entered the room and had Kuroiwa stand down, saying that he could not cover up their murders if Kuroiwa killed Yagami and Kaito in an active crime scene.

Yagami and Morita were surprised to see a commotion outside the venue, where Kengo, Higashi, and the Matsugane-gumi were clamoring for the police to let them in and have at the Mole. On seeing Yagami and Kaito emerge, Higashi had his men stand down, and Yagami realized that the yakuza had been there to keep Yagami and Kaito safe as they fought the Mole. Yagami then noticed Hoshino staying behind, and he realized that Hoshino had called in the Matsugane-gumi for help. Hoshino then apologized profusely for his earlier argument with Yagami, but Yagami forgave him, and the two returned to their quest to bring the AD-9 conspirators to justice.

Yagami also noticed Genda, Saori, and Hattori among the crowd, but he then caught sight of a man in a black raincoat. Believing him to be the Mole, Yagami and Kaito gave chase, following him to a rooftop. There, the cornered man revealed himself to be Hamura. Hamura lamented how he had indirectly caused Matsugane's death through his involvement in the conspiracy, and he expressed his profound respect for his former boss, showing a more vulnerable side to himself. He then handed over incriminating phone data to Yagami, saying that the information would help tie Ichinose to the murders and would atone for his past crimes.

The trial[]

Yagami and his friends on the morning of Ayabe's trial

One month later, in January 2019, Ayabe's trial was held. That morning, Hattori published an article titled "Illegal Human Experiments Discovered in Kabukicho...Dementia Drug AD-9 the Focus." This article, using Sugiura's photos of the secret lab, Shono, and Kido, would likely be written off as tabloid gossip until the truth was brought out, upon which the article would sway public opinion against AD-9. Yagami reluctantly donned a suit again, despite having developed a distaste for the fancy clothing expected of a lawyer, and he and his team proceeded to head to the courtroom to uncover the AD-9 conspiracy.

In the courtroom, the "prosecution" (headed by Izumida, secretly cooperating with Yagami) called forth Vice-Minister Ichinose to testify about AD-9, its importance, and the reasons behind the ADDC's secrecy. However, Yagami sprung his trap and relayed all his findings of the Mole murders and the human experiments to the court, accusing Shono and Ichinose of masterminding the entire conspiracy and framing Ayabe for Shintani's murder. While Ichinose asked Izumida if he could object already, Izumida pretended to be amused by the story and let Yagami's questioning continue. Ichinose eventually pointed out that Yagami's only "proof" was Hattori's tabloid, and he challenged him to bring forth an actual witness.

Yagami responded by calling in Hamura, surprising Ichinose. Hamura testified that Ichinose had hired him and Kuroiwa to procure the human test subjects and kill both Hashiki and Shintani, and he provide a recording he secretly made of Ichinose ordering Shintani's assassination. Kido was brought in to testify afterwards, providing details and evidence about Shono's experiments, and claiming that Shono had only recently told him that AD-9 was doomed to fail each and every time it was tested.

When Ichinose realized that Mafuyu and Izumida were in on the plan and wouldn't put a stop to the testimonies, Ichinose turned to Ishimatsu and nodded at him, causing Ishimatsu to leave the courtroom. Sensing that something was amiss, Yagami had a nervous Hoshino take over the trial while he and Kaito tackled Ishimatsu. They were too late to prevent him from calling in a team of assassins to kill Kuroiwa before he could testify, and Yagami, Kaito, Sugiura, and Higashi proceeded to rush to Kabukicho.

Yagami and his friends returning to Kabukicho

Back in Kabukicho, Mafuyu called Yagami and said that a shooting in Theater Square might be related to the Mole. As the group headed towards the Theater Square, they were immediately confronted by a large number of homeless men employed as thugs by the Ministry of Health. The four allies fought their way through hitmen at every corner, even being cornered by four vans of them near a supermarket. Upon taking down the last of the hitmen, they headed straight for the Theater Square.

There, they found the bodies of three of Ichinose's assassins, and Yagami rushed past the police to talk to the surviving one. This heavily wounded assassin revealed that Kuroiwa was headed to the ADDC, where he intended to kill Shono and wreck AD-9 as punishment for the ADDC's betrayal. While Sugiura said that it was fine by him in "the scumbags take out the scumbags," but Yagami said that they needed Shono to be at the trial to prove AD-9's failure, or else their entire case would collapse. Before leaving, Yagami had Mafuyu call the police and send them to the hospital to stop Kuroiwa.

Yagami, Kaito, Sugiura, and Higashi rushed to the ADDC, which they found crawling with Kuroiwa's own group of police officers, led by Sakuraba. The policemen demanded to search Yagami and his friends on their arrival, but they insisted on getting through to stop Kuroiwa. In the ensuing brawl, Yagami and his friends bested the police, and Kaito and Higashi volunteered to stay behind to distract the police while Yagami and Sugiura stopped Kuroiwa.

The two made their way upstairs, where they found that Kuroiwa had killed two security guards and stolen their golden access card to make his way into the research wing. Yagami found a card on the body of one of the policemen, enabling him and Sugiura to chase Kuroiwa in the bridge between the medical and research wings. Kuroiwa was able to ward them off by blowing up the bridge, causing Yagami to fall onto a car on the street below and be hurled onto the pavement. Yagami, suffering from a brain injury, limped into the loading bay of the research wing with Sugiura, having flashbacks of Waku's murder as he did so. They were also confronted by their old foe Mashiko and several security guards, but Yagami and Sugiura were able to defeat them. As Yagami's head injury healed, he and Sugiura headed upstairs to put an end to Kuroiwa's plot.

The two men rushed into the research wing, where they found that a raincoat-wearing Kuroiwa had already taken Shono hostage. Kuroiwa was prevented from killing Shono when police responded to the kidnapping, forcing Kuroiwa to shoot two of them. He also managed to grave Higashi in the shoulder and critically wound Sugiura with a bullet to the abdomen, but Kaito rushed his friends into a nearby laboratory. There, he told Shono that they were there to save him, and, as Kuroiwa searched for his enemies, Yagami told Shono to look after Sugiura as he confronted Kuroiwa.

When Kuroiwa entered the room, Yagami leapt over the table and ambushed him. Kuroiwa insisted that he would get the project as many test subjects as it needed, and that the world would sing his praises once the drug was developed, but Yagami called out Kuroiwa's delusions and battled him. In the ensuing fight, Yagami was narrowly able to take down Kuroiwa, who was sent flying through a window. However, Kuroiwa held onto the ledge and re-emerged, forcing Yagami to fight him in another round of desperate combat.

Ultimately, Kuroiwa was beaten down, and Kaito and Higashi arrived with the police, with Kaito revealing that he and the police had come to an understanding of sorts. Shono then emerged from his laboratory to confront Kuroiwa, who charged at him with a knife. The police fired several shots into Kuroiwa's side and chest, mortally wounding him, and Kuroiwa taunted Shono about the failure of his drug. Yagami then told shono that his conspiracy was over since the truth about his experiments was being revealed in court. Shono claimed that he had won regardless, producing a syringe from his pcoket and claiming that he had finally perfected A-9. As Sugiura secretly filmed, Yagami angrily rebuffed Shono, saying that, even if he did finish his miracle drug, he would still be jailed for murdering Waku and Emi. He said that their deaths were worth it, as his new drug would save the world. He then injected himself with thte newest batch of AD-9 to demonstrate its efficacy, only to immediately begin screaming in pain and collapse to the floor. He died as his eyes turned blue, revealing why he and Kuroiwa had gouged out all their victims' eyes. Back in court, Kido revealed that the blue pigmentation was an effect of AD-9's toxic build-up, and would have been a telltale sign of human experimentation. With Shono's guilt proven, the court found Ayabe not guilty of murder. Meanwhile, Ichinose and Morita were arrested, and the police investigated the ADDC's corrupt dealings with Kajihira, preventing the Kyorei-kai from moving into town.

Mafuyu attempting to persuade Kaito to return to law

Ten days later, Yagami visited Okubo in prison, where he expressed his happiness that Okubo would be released, now that he was cleared of guilt for Terasawa's murder. Yagami said that nobody believed that Okubo killed Terasawa at that point, and, moments later, Sugiura walked in. Yagami decided to leave and let the two men catch up and come to terms with Emi's loss and their newfound respect for each other. Yagami returned to his office, where Mafuyu and Kaito dropped by. Mafuyu attempted to persuade Yagami to become a lawyer again, but Yagami decided that he was done with suits for good, and he and Kaito resumed their work as private detectives, working to find a missing cat for a worried customer.

Takayuki Yagami

Contents

Biography[]

Early life[]

The AD-9 conspiracy[]

Defending Hamura[]

Investigating the Mole[]

Matsugane manhunt[]

Investigating the Matsugane robbery[]

The Kyorei invasion[]

Investigating the ADDC[]

The AD-9 conspiracy[]

Preparing for the trial[]

The trial[]

Gallery[]