[September 1, 2418 - Saturday, 3:00 PM]
Damon sat in the living room, watching a basketball game with his father, Arisuta, and Okuni while Usagi was preparing dinner for the night. During the peaceful moments, Usagi called Damon into the kitchen for support. Damon went to to the kitchen to see what his mother needed.
"Sweetheart, could you take my car and go to the store really quick? I forgot I needed red bell peppers for this dish I'm making," Usagi said, looking over at her son with a warm smile.
Damon smiled back at Usagi and nodded, taking out his phone to type in his notes what she needed. "Okay, anything else?"
"Nope, that's it. There's no need to rush also, I still have many other side dishes to prepare," Usagi said, playfully poking his side and giggling as his body jolted.
Damon blushed with embarrassment from his ticklish spot and walked off to grab the car keys. "Okuni, let's go! We're gonna run some errands!"
Okuni heard her friend calling her then stood up and waved goodbye to Damon's father before hurrying out the living room behind him. Arisuta glanced at his phone, noticing he only had about 15 more minutes of left before he had to go to his appointment.
"Darling, I'm going to head out to my appointment so I can get there on time. I'll be back by dinner," Arisuta called out, standing up from the couch.
"Hai~! Be careful getting there, okay?" Usagi called out to her husband with a smile as she continued to cut onions upon her cutting board.
Soon, within a few moments, the Otono Residency was empty with only Usagi remaining inside the house to cook dinner. While Usagi continued to cook dinner, she got an alert upon her phone and glanced over at the counter.
"Hm..?" Usagi asked as she wiped her hands with a towel then picked her phone to see that someone was on her ring camera. "Who...is that?"
In her mind, Arisuta, Damon, and Otsuki were gone and she was not aware of any visitors at this current hour. Once she began making her way to the front door, the doorbell began ringing and she let out an annoyed sigh as she walked to the front door.
Unlocking the door and opening it for her unannounced visitor, her gaze lifting up to meet the man's gaze. The man stared at Usagi, checking her out up and down then smirked. Usagi began to feel slightly uncomfortable feeling the man's gaze checking her out in an unwanted manner.
"Uhm, excuse me. Who are you?" Usagi asked, her hand growing increasingly more tense upon the front door.
"Oh..? You don't remember me? How hurt I am, my favorite bunny.." The man chuckled, slowly taking off his sunglasses to reveal his face.
Usagi stared into the man's eyes, her heart dropping to her butt as she immediately recognized the man as Jeht. For a moment she froze with a mix of shock and fear before quickly slamming the door in the man's face. She placed her back on the door then began quickly fumbling with her phone in her pocket before taking it out to call someone.
"C'mon, c'mon, pick up...pick up..!" Usagi plead then gasped as she heard the phone line pick up.
"Hi, Usagi-chan~! What can I do for you?" Nousagi asked, the background sounding as if she was on the road.
"He's here..!" Usagi squeaked silently then yelped as the doorbell rang again.
"Come on, Usagi. Don't you know it's rude to slam doors in people's faces, especially in the face of an old friend?" Jeht teased, ringing the door bell once again.
"Jeez, who's blowing up your doorbell and who's there? Is it those Mormons again? Just tell them to leave," Nousagi said half jokingly, not grasping the scope of Usagi's worry.
"Jeht...Jeht's at my house..!" Usagi said in quiet distress on the phone, keeping the phone to her mouth as she continued to lean against the door to keep Jeht out.
Jeht heard his own name through the door and knew Usagi had called someone then hummed softly, knowing Usagi was no longer as fond of him as she was 30 years ago. Silently, he began backing away from the door and slipped away during Usagi's worry.
Usagi peered through the peephole to scout for Jeht, only to notice he had disappeared. "Wait..! He's gone..! Where..."
"Don't worry about it for now, Usagi. I'm coming over with Kyoto. I'll be there shortly," Nousagi said, taking Usagi serious as she began racing down the highway to Itakatsu.
{Chapter 29: Ghost}
Damon looked at each red bell pepper to find the best one for his mother while Okuni curiously inspected the fruits behind him. Finally finding the best pepper for Usagi, Damon and Okuni continued to walk through the grocery store before spotting two familiar figures in the area.
"Wait, Motosaki! Madam B said the Hojin Market is better for finding these...these golden apples she made us look for," Aisha said, hurrying behind me as I sped walked through the store.
"We looked there already and found granny smith apples larping as golden apples. You know, I'm starting to think she's playing us like a fiddle here, lemme look up to see if golden apples are even real," I said, taking my phone out to look up golden apples.
Damon and Okuni glanced at each other with confusion, wondering why Aisha and I were in Itakatsu. They began approaching us while pushing their cart and Damon began peering over my shoulder to see the 'golden' apples on my screen.
"I don't think these are gold...or at least the gold I was thinking of. I was thinking of like Blocopia Golden Apples, y'know the ones that look like real gold," Aisha said, looking up at me then yelped while stumbling backwards noticing Damon and Okuni near us.
I moved my head and rubbed my ear from Aisha screaming into it and groaned lightly, opening one eye and noticing Damon and Okuni. "Oh...it's just you two..."
Damon held in his laughter and took a deep breath to control himself. "Sorry, man. We didn't mean to scare your girlfriend like that."
"Y-Yeah, we were just curious. Can I ask, why are you looking up golden apples? Don't you know those are a myth?" Okuni asked, pointing at my phone with a confused expression.
Yeah, no shit Sherlock.
"Yeah, I do now...I swear I'm gonna arrest that woman for wasting SPA resources for this bullshit," I said with a light sigh, putting my phone away then looked at the two and noticed their basket. "Shopping for Ms. Usagi?"
"Yeah, I'm getting ready to cash out. Okuni and I are probably gonna go get some ice cream before we head back home if you two wanna join," Damon offered, giving the two of us a smile.
"Ooo~! I'm in!" Aisha said excitedly, beaming a shining smile at the thought of ice cream.
I chuckled softly at Aisha and sighed softly, shrugging my shoulders. "Why not? We have a bit of down time right now. Let's do this."
With our plans made, the four of us went to the self check out section so Damon could pay for the bell peppers then we all began making our way out of the grocery store. As we walked outside, Damon got a text from Usagi asking him to run another errand for her.
"Damn, Mom's really forgetful today," Damon said, sighing softly as he put his phone away. "One more stop, I gotta stop by the post to deliver a package my mom conveniently forgot to."
I chuckled softly and shrugged again. "Alright, more areas of this city to explore. Gotta see if this city is worth going on a date in soon."
"Oh trust me, it is worth it!" Okuni beamed, giving me and Aisha a bright smile.
[September 1, 2418 - Saturday, 3:25 PM]
Okuni, Aisha, Damon, and I sat outside the ice cream shop enjoying our cones and sharing laughs with one another, the time flying by while we all hung out. Despite the differences between Damon and I when I first began to investigate his family to now, it felt as if I had known these two for years.
"Mmm! I wanna ask, what's the deal with that bunny on your shoulder? Is he a new pet?" Okuni asked, pointing at Nachah resting upon my right shoulder with his eyes closed and ears tucked back.
I looked down at Nachah and gently scratched his head with a smile. "Mmm, something like that. He's one of my spirit animals or guides you can say. According to the Bureau's Spirit Animal Department, he's a Living Stigmata type animal."
"What!?" Damon asked in shock, looking at Nachah in awe. "A Living Stigmata? Wait, what's his name?"
"He actually doesn't have a name but a classification, The White Rabbit. I named him Nachah, which means to guide in Hebrew. He wasn't guiding anything when we were looking for apples though," I chuckled, scratching under Nachah's chin with a hum.
"Why were you two scouring the city for golden apples anyway?" Okuni asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Uhhh..." Aisha and I began, glancing at each other as we didn't prepare an excuse since we didn't expect to be found in the city.
"Yeah, I'm curious too. I heard Aisha say a name like Madam B? Is that seductress?" Damon asked, glancing at me curiously.
She might as well be. Dangerous, beautiful, and will absolutely screw with you.
"I think I've heard of Madam B before. Isn't she like Top 5 in the Greatest Beauties listing? Oh yeah, her name is Bellatrix!" Okuni said, snapping her fingers from remembering.
"What? You two know the famous beauty entertainer, Bellatrix? How on God's beautiful Earth did you two come into contact with Bellatrix of all people? She's one of the most well known people in Itakatsu!" Damon said in awe, letting out a scoffing laugh at me and shook his head.
"This guy, am I right? He might actually contend with Inspector Krisis for finding the most random famous people," Damon added with a soft laugh while Okuni giggled at his joke.
I scratched the back of my head and chuckled nervously, wondering if Madam B is as smart as I thought. She was using her alias as part of her entertainer name, but then again...
"Entertainer huh? What does she do?" I asked curiously, wanting to know if my intuition was speaking correctly.
"She plays the role of this super cool Kunoichi in this one movie named Super Blossom Ninja and she also plays the role of an assassin in the new Assassin's Honor 4," Okuni answered, clearly a fan of Madam B's work.
Holy Charades. Madam B is a damn genius. I would have not thought a gamble like hers would work, but it did. She's so theatrical, no one would believe a woman like her would use her skills for shady business such as robbing your own clients.
Seriously, how is that good business practice now I'm thinking about it again.
"Motosaki?" A voice called out to me from the distance.
I looked behind me at the parking lot, noticing Nousagi's car stopped in front of the ice cream shop. "Ms. Nousagi? Kyoto?"
Nousagi and Kyoto got out of the car and began approaching our table. Damon and Okuni looked at the two curiously, wondering who they were and their connection to me. Aisha and I also looked at the two women with curiosity, wondering why they were here.
"What are you two doing here? I thought you two would be back at Matsugaya by now," Kyoto said, her gaze lowering to our ice cream cones. "Ice cream, huh?"
"Well, we kinda had a detour here and ran into our friends here. Why are you two here? Aren't you supposed to be training Hisumi and her friends?" I asked, looking up at Kyoto with inquiry.
Kyoto let out a nose exhale, her gaze meeting mine. "It's Saturday. The Valkyrias are out doing God knows what. Besides, Nousagi and I are here on official business here. Apparently, Jeht went to Usagi's house."
"What? That man went to my mom's house?" Damon asked, standing up and looking down at me and Aisha. "Isn't Jeht the one even my mom is saying killed her best friend?"
I crossed my arms and nodded, exhaling softly as I wondered what Jeht was really after or why he is in Itakatsu. "Yeah, he is. However, I don't think it's right for me to encounter him again today. I already did earlier today and went out with spoonfed info."
Kyoto rose an eyebrow at me, surprised that I had found Jeht first then stood up straight and looked at Nousagi. Nousagi also heard the discourage in my tone, letting out a soft exhale as she seemed to know my investigation was set back even further.
"Come on, let's get to Usagi. He might still be there," Kyoto said, turning around to walk toward to car to potentially meet Jeht face to face once again.
Nousagi noticed Kyoto's sudden burst of vigor, her energy more tense than ever after hearing my defeated tone. She looked back at the four of us with concern. "You four stay here. We'll let you know if it's safe to come."
The four of us watched as Nousagi and Kyoto left, leaving us with our own thoughts and concerns. Damon, Aisha, and Okuni looked at me, noticing I was deep in thought as I replayed my first encounter with Jeht back in my head.
"Motosaki," Aisha spoke, Nanako's voice spilling through her voice. She placed a hand upon my shoulder, breaking me out of my trance.
I looked at Aisha, noticing a faint magenta glow in her eyes. I exhaled softly and turned my gaze to the sky. "You know as much as anyone that I want to catch Jeht right now as well...but I have nothing on him.."
"Because you're asking the wrong questions...ask about me," Nanako responded through Aisha, looking me in my eyes with a lovesick gaze.
"Ask about you? Why would Motosaki ask about you when you weren't even born yet?" Damon asked, raising an eyebrow at Aisha's suggestion.
I stared at Aisha for a moment then looked at Damon, my father's smirk curling upon my lips. "No, wait...she's onto something. I didn't even think about it because it was too obvious, but I think it might work."
"I guess? Sure, let's ask a 48 year old man if he remembers an 18 year old girl. Mhm, sounds good," Okuni said sarcastically, giving me a thumbs up.
"Sarcasm's my thing, stick to your own mojo. Now let's go, I'm not gonna let your mom be the next sacrifice," I said, standing up with a renewed confidence from Nanako's suggestions.
Nachah's right ear twitched from my renewed confidence and his tail wiggled slightly. I noticed Nachah's movement and smiled at him, rubbing his head before taking out my phone to call Hanma for a ride to the Otono Residency.
[September 1, 2418 - Saturday, 5:10 PM]
Usagi paced back and forth in her kitchen, biting her thumbnail nervously as she looked at the clock, waiting for her friends to arrive while being uncertain of where Jeht was. Her head whipped over to the front door as the doorbell rang through the house, her heart skipping a beat as she wondered if it was her friends or Jeht.
Hesitantly making her way to the front door, she peeked through the peephole to see who it was. She noticed a hand waving at the door, noticing it was Kyoto and Nousagi. Quickly she opened the door, happy that her friends made it in one piece.
"Usagi, where is he? Are you okay? Is he in here?" Kyoto began as she rushed into the house with her katana in hand, her eyes vigilantly searching for Jeht.
"N-No, he's not in here! I couldn't even bring myself to let him in the house...I just— Why is be back? I thought he would be gone for good.." Usagi said softly, fidgeting with her apron as she looked at the ground.
Nousagi walked inside as well then closed the door behind herself and locked it for safety reasons. She began to inspect the house as well, wanting to be sure it was safe. "Why you of all people first? I would have thought he would come for me first..."
Usagi shook her head and began leading her friends into the dining room then sat down in her seat. "I don't know...I don't know, but I just decided to send Damon on a pointless errand to waste more time in case Jeht was still around."
"You don't have to worry about them. Damon and Okuni were eating ice cream with Motosaki and Aisha in the city. We told them to stay at the shop just in case," Nousagi reassured, placing a hand upon Usagi's shoulder.
Usagi covered her face with her eyes, the guilt she thought she was freed from resurfacing within her as she began to softly break down in tears. "When will all of this just end..? I don't want to keep thinking about Nanako like this...our best friend."
Kyoto stared at the table decorations with frustration and clenched her fist, exhaling softly as she closed her eyes. "At some point, we need to take blame for her death too... Each of us could've done something back then and sulking now won't fix anything."
"I know, I know...but it's just so hard not to feel guilty when just one word would've saved her life. I just don't want him going after my son because I slammed the door in his face," Usagi said with a shaky breath, wiping her eyes and sniffling softly.
"Don't worry, Motosaki and Aisha are with Damon and Okuni. They will be able to keep them safe.." Kyoto said, looking at Usagi with assurance.
Meanwhile,
"Can't you drive this bucket any faster?!" Damon asked with frustration, leaning forward toward the driver's seat.
Hanma glanced back at Damon and groaned softly, looking ahead at the road. "Listen, I know this Jeht guy is important, but do you see this traffic? This is a taxi service, not a transforming hovering car."
"Please Mister! My friend's mother is in danger and we need to get there now!" Okuni pled, looking at Hamna with puppy eyes.
"This car can do lots of things, but I'm not splitting between two semi trucks and getting all five of us killed. We'll be at your house in five minutes anyway. You sound like a bunch of sailors in a storm," Hanma said, adjusting his hat on his head with a sigh.
I sat in the passenger seat while I began devising questions about Nanako on the notes app on my phone, each question about Nanako becoming increasingly more personal until I reached the criminal questions. All I needed was for him to either hesitate or for him to give me information, any information.
"Hanma, there's a shortcut to the Otono Residency from this exit. Tsubami took this way last time to skip traffic," I said, pointing at Exit 6-J on the far right lane.
Hanma glanced over at the exit then nodded, using his turn signal to cut through three lanes, practically drifting onto the Exit then began racing along the road toward Damon's house. Damon and Okuni grunted as they were pressed back against their seat from Hanma's speed, the "bucket's" speed catching Damon by surprise.
Hanma soon made it to the Otono Residency and parked outside the gate. Damon and Okuni quickly got out of the car and hurried to the gate while Aisha and I got out a few seconds afterwards. Hanma parked his car and got out as well, fixing his hat and looked around the wealthy establishment.
"So, this Jeht person. He's supposedly Nanako's murderer huh? Do you think he's still around?" Hanma asked, looking over at me.
I glanced around my surroundings and hummed softly, inspecting the Otono garage and the nearby houses as well. I looked at each car parked on the side of the road then began to walk toward each car, wondering if I could identify Jeht's car.
Aisha followed behind me, watching as I read each vin number upon every car. She also began looking around before spotting a black supercar parked a few blocks down Usagi's home. She tugged my jacket sleeve then pointed at the black car.
I looked at the car Aisha pointed to then looked back at her. "You think it's that one?"
"Yeah. It's the only car that does not match the color scheme of the cars around here and is the only supercar here. It's also the only car not parked nearby any houses," Aisha said, looking at me with a determined explanation.
"Really? I don't think that's enough reasoning to suspect that one being Jeht's car because that Sudan is also parked offside," I said, pointing at the black Sudan up the street.
"Oh...well, how are you going to identify his car? This will take too long checking every car on the street," Aisha said, looking around at the cars upon the street.
I looked around with a hum and crossed my arms, studying each car parked on the side of the road. Each car was parked neatly, as if they were parked a specific distance away from the next car. I began gauging the Toyota to my right to the Ford behind it using steps.
I took about ten steps from the Toyota to the Ford then from the Ford to the Chevy was another ten steps. I walked over to the black supercar and gauged its distance from the blue Chevrolet behind it. Ten steps. There was an obvious pattern within this specific neighbor which respected a ten step rule.
"Aisha, walk from that Toyota to Hamna's car," I requested, pointing at Hanma's car.
Aisha nodded at me and began walking from the Toyota to Hanma's car while I silently counted her steps. Aisha and Hanma both looked confused of my methods and wondered if my Insight was overclocking.
"12 steps between the Toyota and Hanma. So everyone who knows this ten step rule has lived here for a while... meaning the car we are looking for is beyond ten steps. That's about about three yards between cars..." I said to myself as I began scouting the street again and began imagining measuring lines upon the ground to measure the distance between each car.
Soon, my eyes locked onto a red Nissan which was exactly 15 steps away from the next car. I ran toward the Nissan and peered inside it, noticing Tenshi's tablet sitting on the passenger side seat then looked back. My heart dropped down to my knees as I realized Jeht was still around.
I took a step away from Jeht's car and began scouting around, wondering if he could still be nearby Usagi's home or within the neighborhood. Nachah's ears perked up and he hopped off my shoulder then began hopping off into a random direction.
"Nachah?" I questioned, following behind him and continued to look around the neighborhood.
Aisha followed me with Hanma, the two of them wondering where I was following Nachah toward. As we continued to follow the white rabbit, we noticed him hopping into an alleyway, something catching his eye.
I hurried into the alleyway then stopped once I noticed Nachah gnawing on some partially eaten fruits and vegetables near a trashcan. "Come on, you're hungry?"
Aisha hurried toward me and gently held my arm, looking ahead to see Nachah chewing on food that he had found then sighed softly. "It was nothing..? Come on, let's just go check on Ms. Usagi."
I continued to stare at Nachah and paid close attention to the golden sigil on his back, noticing the golden particles flowing ahead as he chewed on a carrot. I looked ahead and hummed softly, wondering if this was another guidance tactic from him.
"Hold on. I'm not sure Nachah would just run here just for some food, though, it is within his nature to scavenge," I said, walking forward through the alley toward the other end.
Hanma and Aisha followed behind me, the three of us staying cautious of the small critters within the alleyway. Reaching the other end of the alleyway, we found ourselves in the neighborhood park, a vibrant location with flora and greenery as far as the eye could see.
I looked around for a moment, noticing the park was empty aside from a few cars within the parking lot. Along my diligent search, I noticed Tenshi walking out of the restroom and locked onto her. Immediately, I darted over to her with purpose.
"Huh? W-Wait, Motosaki!" Aisha called out, running behind me.
Tenshi heard moving feet hitting the ground toward her and looked over, noticing me charging straight toward her then panicked. She immediately reached for her tablet, but remembered she forgot it in Jeht's car. She grunted as she began running off and looked down at her watch, a holographic display of Senkaku appearing over her screen.
"Master! The rookie and his girlfriend are chasing after me! I'm not too sure how they tracked us down," Tenshi reported, looking behind her to see that I was beginning to catch up.
Senkaku grumbled under his breath as he was assessing a strange energy pole within the forests of the neighborhood park. He looked down at his watch and sighed softly. "Why are you reporting to me? Get them off your tail. I am busy trying to figure out this neighborhood's power supply.."
"Get them— Sir, I left my only defence in your car and you have the keys! If they catch up and detain us, everything you've worked for will be over," Tenshi said, running toward a slope then leaped forward, making on top of the hill with one jump.
"Holy crap!" Aisha said in shock, looking up at the hill and noticed Tenshi looking down at us with nervousness.
I stared up at Tenshi then smirked at her, chuckling softly to myself as I found another lead. 'You're a bit too afraid for someone who was composed earlier...what are you hiding..?'
Tenshi stared into my eyes, seeing a bit of my father within my gaze and felt her heart skip a beat. She grunted as she took off running once again, hanging up on Senkaku and slipped into the woods to find a hiding spot.
Senkaku lowered his watch and looked at the pole in front of him, noticing various power lines stretching across to multiple other posts. He hummed softly then turned away from the pole and walked off, adjusting his mask before vanishing like the wind.
Aisha and I made it into the woods, but lost track of Tenshi. We began to wander through the woods, keeping a vigilant eye out for any sighting of Tenshi. While we searched, Tenshi silently moved around, keeping awareness of her surroundings as she snuck around.
The coast was clear for her, her exit right in front of her. She noticed a light blue butterfly fluttering toward the exit then drift away into a different direction and felt the urge to follow it. She rushed after the butterfly, skipping the exit and slipping deeper into the woods.
"Damn, where did she go? She's fast! Like Otsuki fast!" Aisha exclaimed, stopping in her tracks and placed her hands upon her hips. "She's nowhere around here."
I hummed softly to myself and continued to search around our general area, but could not find a trace of Tenshi around. I crossed my arms and exhaled softly, closing my eyes as I knew we had lost sight of our target.
"We had a case like this before in the past. Chasing after someone and they seemed to have gotten away mysteriously," I said, opening my eyes then looked up at the sky.
The wind whispered across the air, the leaves rustling along the cool breeze as leaves fell down from their branches. I looked down and began to use my Insight as that was the only thing I could do at the moment.
"Tenshi was composed near Jeht earlier, and when she's not around him she's panicking. However, I don't think she's running out of guilt. There...seemed to be a bit of fear in her eyes," I said, mentally gathering all the known evidence into one bunch.
A small volt of lightning began to spark in my brain as I began to use Insight the way my father would use it. I crossed my arms and closed my eyes, going deeper into my mind as I continued to string clues together, each piece of evidence having to fit together like a puzzle piece.
"Jeht is still here...she ran here. That means..." I continued, opening my eyes then looked down at the ground, picking up a tree branch. "Jeht is not too far from here. He has to be doing something for Tenshi to be panicking."
Aisha stared at me intently, her eyes flashing magenta as she and Nanako listened to my thought process. Aisha began giggling then broke into a lovestruck laughter, holding her cheeks then grinned with pure glee.
"Oh, Saki~ You're just so amazing when you use your brain..~" Aisha sighed, looking at me lovingly.
I glanced back at Aisha, an awkward bead of sweat rolling down my face. 'Let's save the yandere tendencies for later...that actually scared me..'
"I know how to get Jeht here..~" Nanako said through Aisha, a devious grin stretching across her lips.
I felt a cold chill down my spine seeing Nanako's vengeful side beginning to surface, my own spirit having to remind me that Nanako was still a vengeful spirit with a murderous tendency despite her liking me deeply.
Jeht walked through through the woods and took of his mask, the mask dissolving into pink and green energy particles. As he made his way to an exit, he heard a giggle behind him which caused him to stop in his path. He looked back to see nothing was behind him, chalking it up to being a little kid.
"Jeht..." A voice whispered to Jeht, a chilling voice which caused his skin to crawl. "This way..."
Jeht stopped once again then turned around, wondering who was calling his name but only saw the vast woods around him. He heard another giggle to his left, his attention drawn to it then he noticed a girl vanishing into the woods.
"Jethro..~ It's me..~ Over here..." The voice continued, her giggles drawing Jeht closer.
Jeht followed the voice and the girl, her figure seemingly familiar to him. He looked around as he felt a sense of dread the more he followed the strange girl, a sense of nostalgia striking him like a head on collision. He noticed the girl had stopped right in front of him, humming a familiar tune he heard 30 years ago.
Jeht took a step closer, reaching out to the girl and turning her around, his heart stopping for a moment as he recognized her. "Nan..ako?"
The girl looked at Jeht and gave him a familiar, sweet smile. "You found me..~ Can you do it again~?"
Jeht grunted as he noticed the girl vanish with her voice echoing through the woods then another giggle sounded nearby. Jeht smirked and chuckled as he knew the mysterious girl was playing a game with him then he began to chase after her.
The mysterious girl laughed as she ran through the forest, looking behind her to see Jeht running after her. She squealed and continued running, her breathing growing faster with each quickening step she took.
Once Jeht finally caught up to her again, she was staring at him with her hands behind her back. "Hm, you had fun running through these woods? You're a fast one.."
The girl hummed at Jeht and averted eye contact, letting out another soft giggle. "Well...I wasn't that fast apparently since I couldn't get away. It's like old times again...isn't it?"
Jeht stared at the girl, seeing her magenta eyes but noticing they seemed to be a bit more vengeful than before. He smirked at her and looked around his surrounding. "Hm...you're not Nanako are you?"
The girl glanced at Jeht, a devious smirk forming on her lips as she unconcealed her icy dagger and sliced at Jeht's neck. Jeht swiftly dodged her attack then noticed the girl's hood fly off, his eyes widening slightly as he recognized her as Aisha from earlier.
"You're the Izuna's girlfriend! Oh, hoh hoh! You duo seem to remind me of Mikoto and Erik...the resemblance is too uncanny since you act just like Mikoto," Jeht said, chuckling softly and unholstered his Chi-Teck-ii handgun, aiming it at Aisha's head.
Aisha stared at Jeht, her magenta eyes glowing with pure hatred as she stared him down with little to no fear in her eyes. "What..? You're gonna kill me again? Do it...you'll be in jail for murder for real this time."
'Again..?' Jeht asked to himself, his curiosity about Aisha growing. 'Does this girl...have Nanako's spirit..?'
Jeht sensed another presence behind him then looked back, noticing me standing behind him with a tree branch as a weapon. He let out a laugh and turned his attention to me. "Well, well...Within a few hours we meet again. I heard you scared my secretary away.."
"She wouldn't need to be scared if either you or her wasn't doing anything suspicious. What are you doing here?" I asked, bracing myself for anything Jeht could do.
"Is strolling through a park now grounds for suspicion? Don't take my secretary's incompetence and label it on me. That just won't do, Mr. Izuna," Jeht belittled, giving me a chuckle then looked back at Aisha, noticing her eyes were normal again.
'Hm...maybe I'm just imagining it. She probably has magenta eyes when she's using her abilities...' Jeht rationalized mentally then looked back at me, noticing a twinkle in my eyes.
"I don't have much to ask you, but I mainly wanted to find you because I forgot to ask you something earlier that slipped by me," I said, dropping my stick and relaxing myself.
Jeht noticed me relax then lowered his gun and looked back at Aisha, noticing she was following my lead and calming down as well. He holstered his firearm and looked back at me with interest. "What is it?"
"There's no need to ask you about your relationship with Nanako, Usagi, Nousahi, Kyoto, nor Hanabi. It's all known information...so what I wanna ask you is this. Did you know that Nanako did not have Delirium before meeting you?" I asked as I paced around the woods.
Jeht rose an eyebrow at me and crossed his arms. "Yes, everyone knew that. She had a NDE which then gave her delirium. What are you accusing me of now?"
"Nothing, but I just want you to sit on this while I land my plane. Upon Nanako's first hospital records, it was said that Nanako had half a gram of satura in her system...how could that be the case when you were her last contact before she was hospitalized?" I asked, looking over at Jeht and studied his face.
Jeht stared at me for a moment, a faint memory of Nanako meeting up with him at a convenient store flashing in his head. He let out a chuckle and took a light breath. "Well, could you consider the fact that I was the one who took her to the hospital. That's on the reports as well."
"Oh I know, which I find very convenient... because you didn't stay there did you?" I asked, keeping on the pressure.
Jeht's smirk faltered slightly, but he maintained his smile with another chuckle. "Well, truth be told, I didn't. I had other clan matters to deal with at that time. My clan is very strict and missing even one meeting would mean exile."
"Fair, and that's all I wanted to ask for now. I just found those facts interesting," I said, shrugging my shoulders then walked past him and took Aisha's hand.
Jeht watched as I walked off with Aisha without another word, his smirk faltering as he began to wonder how deep my research on the MHI-30 truly went. Half of him was excited to see how deep I would dig to deliver justice, but the other half knew he was about to lose his grip upon the board.
[September 1, 2418 - Saturday, 7:30 PM]
Riggs stretched his arms and grunted softly as he sat back in his chair, setting down his power tool and turned around in his seat. He stared at the blueprints for his new Spirit Tracking Device, wondering how he was going to advertise it and sell it.
Suddenly, the door to the workshop shot open with Madam B waltzing in with high energy. "Riggs~! I've got a guest and it's the sweet boy!"
Riggs looked up and watched as I walked into his workshop and sat back in his seat with a hum. "Back already huh? What do you need from us, kid?"
I walked to the table with my hands in my pockets, looking him in the eyes. "I want to invade the Womato-gumi."
"Oh shit!" Fists said, sitting up in his seat and setting down his portable game. "This kid serious? You wanna invade the Womato-gumi?"
"I have a new lead in my investigation on the MHI-30, and I know you all have a more established connection to them. The Womato-gumi are a Mato Clan Yakuza correct?" I asked, looking between the trio with curiosity.
Madam B chuckled softly and walked over to me, slithering her hand around my shoulder with a sigh and leaned closer to me. "Oh, you courageous idiot..~ The Womato-gumi would kill you in a heartbeat messing around with them. Why do you wanna invade them anyway?"
I looked at Madam B, noticing how close she was then pushed myself away from her gently. "My girlfriend and her spirit would kill you if you do that again. And two, my first reason was to dig up information about Jeht...but actually why dig up documents when one woman and her super tablet is enough."
"Kidnapping? Holy chet mane, this kid's insane! You're gonna try to kidnap Mr. Jeht's secretary? Yeah, good luck with that pal," Fists said, lying back down on the couch to continue gaming.
"What? No, I'm not gonna kidnap the woman. If anything, I have a feeling that she's not as lock and key to him as everyone thinks. Just like how you're willing to betray Jeht, I think if the cost is right, she'll betray him too," I explain, shaking my head and sighing softly.
"Mmm, coercion. That's still a bit risky...and a little dumb, but we sell to literal governments," Madam B said, shrugging her shoulders.
And rob your own clients, let's not leave that out.
"Alright, we'll help...but us three aren't going in alone. This is the Womato-gumi we're talking about," Riggs said with light concern.
"Don't worry about that, I'll have that covered. You just prepare your weapons. And wear masks, I'm not gonna have y'all exposed to the second largest family," I said, pointing at all three faces.
Madam B chuckled softly at me, holding her arms under her chest as she watched me leave the workshop. "Well... invading another Yakuza. We haven't done that in years. This should be quite fun."
Riggs chuckled as well, looking back down at his blueprint then clapped his hands together. "Welp, let's go get ready I suppose. A White Wolves Rep needs our help."
All three of them began to get ready for the outing while I went to prepare for the task while heading over to the Fugigami Residency to tell Hisu my plans since it was literally another gamble. I didn't know how this would turn out, but in cases like these, a few leaps of faith are needed.
Hisu sipped on her cup of tea peacefully then heard the front door open, her eyes opening to see me walking inside. She smiled at me and set down her cup upon the coaster. "Why, Motosaki. It's nice seeing you here at this time. What can I get you, dear?"
"Granny, I'm planning on invading the Womato-gumi and I need to know if this plan looks desperate," I said, taking my seat next to her and waited for second opinions.
"Greatly," Hisu replied firmly, closing her eyes and taking another sip of her tea. "But I know you, and when your mind is set, nothing changes it easily. You're just like your father in that regard."
I smiled at Hisu and sighed softly, lowering my head. "Yeah, I know I'm stubborn...but I feel like there's something to be had here. All I need is just documents and Jeht's secretary might have them."
"Tenshi?" Hisu asked, looking at me with intrigue. "Hm, she might have some information about him since she's glued to his hip practically. She's not a Mato Clansman, but someone roped in with Jeht. She attended Hojin, so she's a Burning Bull technically."
"A Burning Bull...they seem to be very loyal to the Mato Clan, however, if she knows Jeht this deeply she has to know who Nanako is," I said, nodding with determination.
Hisu chuckled softly at me and hummed softly, setting her cup down on the coaster. "Now you're starting to use your Insight correctly. Stop investigating Jeht himself and investigate around him. I'll send some support from JESA and OPA your way for the invasion."
"Also, bring Heido. He might want some fun underground," Hisu added, gently pinching my cheek with a smile.
I smiled back at Hisu then nodded, standing up from my seat and took out my phone to call Heido and tell him the plan. Hisu watched me walk off with a small grin on her face, only praying for my safety while I was doing what I needed for the investigation.