Shinya Kawai (川井 信也, Kawai Shin'ya) is a character featured in Lost Judgment. He was a student at Kurokawa Academy.
Background
Kawai and roughly half of his homeroom class bullied Mitsuru Kusumoto after school each week, consisting of both physical and emotional violence that was recorded by Yui Suzuki. Their teacher Yu Kitakata told them to not go overboard, which did not deter them in the slightest. On September 17, 2008, after their routine bullying session, Mitsuru attempted suicide and was placed in a coma. When Kitakata confronted the class about it, they all turned on him, stating Kawai had made them do it, and they were able to escape consequences while Kawai had to change schools. He apologized to Reiko Kusumoto for his actions, but his guilt, if any, did not last long.
Years later, Kawai moved to Kamurocho and became a proprietor of a girls' bar, where he earned his reputation for speaking of the life-changing event with apparent pride. However, this attitude would inevitably prove to seal his fate. In 2016, he failed to recognize Kusumoto and approached her as if she was looking for a date. Him living completely free of guilt caused Kusumoto to contact Jin Kuwana and have his vigilante group comprised of Kawai's former collaborators abduct Kawai and take him to a private location, where Kusumoto slowly drove a knife through his chest, killing him. Kawai's body had the fingerprints of Kusumoto and all those who abducted him, so Kuwana froze the body to preserve it.
Involvement
Lost Judgment: 2021-2022
In 2021, RK search for Kawai to give Hidemi Bando leverage against Kusumoto. They learn Kawai was killed and try to search for his body.
In 2022, Kawai's body is revealed to be in a warehouse and is used as bait to draw in RK for Kuwana to eliminate. The freezer is rigged to explode if the body is pulled out far enough. Though Kuwana intended to destroy the body to dispose of evidence, seeing Kawai's preserved face had caused Kusumoto to have a change of heart and turn herself in to atone for her crime. The fingerprints on the body are used to sentence her.