Forgotten Father

In the midst of fire, where Minoru's team had gotten a safe place, that was a little away from fire. They talked about how to defend themselves and capture Aimi for good.

"What the hell is Harold doing in there...?!" Said Alice with a panicked tone.

Everyone was panicking, and why wouldn't they?

Harold was nowhere to be contacted. Mai had her contacts lost too.

"The one who called us, Mai, she isn't contact us either! What the hell..." Said Takashi.

"Could it be they have betrayed us?" Aoi found out a possibility.

"That's certainly just an opinion. Not even a hypothesis to be honest." Minoru spoke.

"Well, Mai was more preferably on their side than she was on ours...isn't it?" Said Takashi.

"I have a contradiction over here." Minoru replied.

"You were against Mai betraying us a moment ago, huh?" Aoi said.

"Well, did you guys not realise how could have Mai gotten so close to Michael?" He added

"What do you mean..." Alice was confused.

And so were the others.

"Mai was even close...?" Takashi said.

"Of course she was! How else could she have made our contacts with the cash cow businessman?" Minoru replied.

"So you're saying..."

"Yes. She was the one who gave us contacts to Michael. The thing is..."

"We knew her before even Aiko and the others knew him. We knew Mai before we even knew Michael existed." Alice added.

"That's an interesting fact you never told us, I wonder why?" Aoi and Takashi thought.

"Because you're here for the money." Minoru was blunt.

"Huh?! You're saying we aren't a team?!" Aoi went mad!

To which, Minoru replied with a smile

"More like a loose confederation...we are that."

"But isn't that bad?"

"It's not. It's actually good. Aimi's biggest strength is that she's amazingly good at breaking teams, don't you see how she broke Aiko's team into pieces?"

"Yeah... Aiko is somewhere else, Lee must be somewhere else, and we can't contact the other two, Mai and Harold, and his sister wasn't there, Lisa." Aoi added.

"Yet we are still intact." Minoru replied.

"So teamwork is their biggest weakness, which Aimi exploits?"

"Yes, and we can exploit Aiko's team and capture Aimi this way." Minoru added.

"Huh? But how?!"

"But first, let me tell you something, Mai is the daughter of Michael."

Drop...

Aoi's phone dropped in shock.

"...what?"

"WHAT?!"

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU-"

"But how does this help us capture Aimi?" Takashi wondered after he recovered from his shock.

As Aoi picked up her phone, Minoru said

"Ah, it doesn't help us. I just thought you should know."

"Huuuuuhhhhhh?!" Takashi had a straight face with this one.

"Anyways, tell us your plan, the one with Lee." Alice asked.

"Okay so..." Minoru began.

"My plan is...."

Minoru said with suspense, as Aoi and the others awaited his words.

"But why Lee? What does he have to-" Aoi was confused.

"Could you shut up and actually listen to him for once?" Takashi and Alice said.

"See, Lee is a very important part of overwhelming Aimi."

"I'd like to know how." Takashi said.

"For this, you'd have to know I was a very close colleague to an officer named Kaito and his assistant Yuko." Minoru added.

"Okay, we knew that." Takashi replied.

"After their death, in the Jail incident, where Aimi broke free, I was given the charge along with officer Alice..."

"That's me." Alice indicated towards herself.

"And I had gotten access to all their Intel. Which included, let's say...something alot special..."

"Huh? What was it?" Takashi couldn't wait.

"Okay, Since you know how I was a close friend to Kaito and Yuko, isn't it?"

"Yeah.."

"When I came to have an inspection as t their office..." Minoru said

As he took a sip of a breath, preparing himself to tell a story, he said.

"I saw on their reports, something that intrigued me, more than anything..."

Chapter 54: Forgotten Father

[Flashback]

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At Minoru's New Office

This was back when Kaito and Yuko were killed, Minoru was a new officer who was appointed to hold Kaito's position.

[Minoru's Perspective]

"Sigh....a new office! A new journey awaits me!"

I was excited.

I look around the new cabin that I've gotten to be called my 'office'.

Surprisingly, it was a pretty big room, with proper ventilation. Though I saw no air conditioning in the room, they had fans instead.

"With the current hear in Japan, whoever held it earlier was surely an idiot to not install proper air conditioning...!" I pretended as if I didn't know whose office it was a little moment ago.

"You do realise it's your co-workers last thing he has left you, isn't it?" My assistant spoke.

"Ofcourse. Kaito and Yuko, I'll respect them forever."

I said that with my utmost respect.

However...

"Say, how were they killed again?"

"They were killed in action, an honorable death as they defended the Japanese Police. The jail cells, and most lives. Sadly they had lost their fight due to cunning tactics used by suspected criminals R-"

Sfx: twitch

Agh...

Why does she keep speaking nonsense?

I didn't ask for an essay regarding the topic.

I want the true information!

"Agh..."

"Nnh!" She blushes, why wouldn't she?

I just put my hands over her face!

I did that to just stop her by overwhelming her with blushes, don't think she'd understand that.

"Alice, stop with the sugar coating. Let me know the raw and true information that you hold regarding this matter."

"I-..." Alice was in blushes.

Oh god. That is one thing I hate the most.

Emotions in women, is like Parasite and Bacteria in a delicious Sushi.

I hate them both!

"Could you now give me the actual info, miss?" I'd still have to keep up with an act, right?

"I...- yeah! Right! Ofcourse!" Alice was in blushes.

"So, Kaito and Yuko were allegedly killed by the famous criminal who's well known for human trafficking in the underground world, he later killed his accomplice who went by the name 'Yuuki'." She explained it to me.

Huh? That's weird.

Ray is supposedly a brother to Aimi, that information is only with me.

Yuuki is related to Ryou, that's what she says.

"And Ryou was in the same jail cell, right?"

"Correct." She nodded her head.

This makes sense...!

Two people related to Ryou, killed the police, in the same jail cell he was being held in.

But how did Ryou escape?

Wasn't Ray caught, and why did Ray backstab or betray his own partner in crime Yuuki?

"Are you about to ask me something ...?" Alice asked in blush.

"You're going to be too stupid to answer what I demand to know." I reply.

"P-please! I can be of some help, can't I?" She looks at me with that face.

Sigh...

"Do you how many people were involved with Ray, and helped him?"

"Um, ...this!"

"Huh?"

She handed me over a paper,

She's really stupid. Yet she thought she could be of my help, ugh.

"That's..."

A letter?

From Kaito?!

"He wrote this before he died." Alice explained.

As I read the letter, my head began forming multiple thoughts...

The letter wrote

"...This letter is for my too much curious colleague, Minoru! Listen, I know you'd be the one to inherit the current case I'm dealing with, and you'd be held accountable to be responsible for the mansion. Infact, it's not just written for you, I've made copies of this letter for different colleagues, incase any one of them reads this...

...what I wanted to tell you is that, there's a perspective to the case that hasn't even been unfold yet. And nobody is opening it either. For my legacy, PLEASE STOP RYOU! and, make sure to interview Lee. Specifically about his 'daughter' he lost. If you trace the history of Aimi and Lee's daughter, they form pretty similar history..."

...WHAT?!

WHAT DID I JUST READ?!

Was this true?

To think of it neither Kaito or Yuko would ever lie to me.

"SAY, ARE THERE MORE FILES REGARDING KAITO'S VIEW ON RYOU'S MURDER CASES?!"

"I-...I don't think so!"

"COULD YOU ATLEAST SEARCH IT FOR ME?!" I raised my voice.

Damn it!

Knowing Kaito, there has to be!

"I-ill search it right away...!" Alice said in a panicked frail voice.

And so, we began searching for the files.

It was until evening that Alice left, her shift being over.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find it for you today, but trust me Minoru-"

"Officer Minoru." I corrected her.

"Yeah, that- I'll definitely search it up for you tomorrow. Is that alright? I shall take my.leave now." Alice said as she left.

It seems she was in a hurry.

"H-...he's so hot when he's in a hurry! Weee~" She whispered amongst herself.

Tsk. I can hear you.

"I can hear you Alice."

"I'm sorry...!" She ran away.

After a few minutes.

"Sigh... Kaito, you were a weird man, isn't it?" I sit down at the desk with a sigh of breath.

I think to myself, where could Kaito have it?

I open his computer, as I begin searching through some old files.

"These were the photos of us and him huh?" I recall.

"It's weird for you to just not-"

"Wait."

"What is that...?" I saw a weird file.

"R-Y-O..." I read out the file name.

Oh my god. That's the file. He has it digitally?!

"I need to open this!"

Sfx: mouse click

Click... Open!

"So this is-"

"Huh?!"

There's...

Nothing in the file?

Its just a note that says

"Ryou Aikawa's murder cases:

To begin with, I frankly don't agree with Edrick. Ryou isn't the murderer in my beliefs. Anyways, I've been given this sum of money to hold him accountable. Well ..."

And that was it.

Kaito hadn't updated this in a while.

How could he? He isn't here anymore...

But even when he was alive, could he only squeeze this much information?

"Where's the other information...is that all Kaito had written?" I think to myself.

But wait.

"I noticed how he didn't write anything after that dry 'well', could he..."

I understand exactly.

"Kaito, you were trying to write something but you made such an astonishing discovery regarding this case, that you left it unedited and jumped to that 'new perspective' you talked in your previous letter?" I ask the late-Kaito.

"Knowing Kaito, he will leave holes and gaps everywhere he writes his work. That's his way for making his clients bribe him to get information." I knew this much about Kaito.

But what's really clever is that,

"The other file Kaito has stored is not digital, but physical. And it's somewhere we don't expect." I deduce.

How? The word 'New Perspective' is bullshit.

It doesn't mean anything regarding to the case, rather, it actually means to the new discovery regarding the case he has found.

And ofcourse, he would hide this so that he can charge money for this information, easy way for him to make money, isn't it?

But again, new perspective means that if Kaito stores digital files, we will get used to the fact he does it all digital. Forgetting he can also hide physical hardcopies, which just happened with us.

"And 'new perspective' also means..."

Bang bang!

Sfx: fall

Thud!

"Haah..." I opened the computer parts violently, only to discover

Lee and Aimi ~ By Kaito

"Oh holy...shit"

My prediction was correct.

He knew that we would assume he will store this digitally, but if we found out that it's physical copy, we will search outside the computer. But Kaito used this opportunity to hide this information WITHIN the computer as a hardcopy.

Why did he hide it? So people can bribe him to get this information.

It's sad he died before getting bribed for this info.

"But what I'm currently seeing...how on earth could this be true?!"

Sfx: pick

I pick up the paper.

"It's a crumbled A4 size sheet, huh?"

There seems to be an essay written with a pen in the paper.

"Aimi:

Her current age is 18. She was around 12 and in middle school, she has three known certificates within that school to her name. Her parents were killed in a school shooting, famously known as Middle School Massacre. Her father was shot infront of her, and her mother was also shot. Mother's body wasn't found.

Now onto Lee and his 'Lost Daughter':

Lee lost his daughter six years ago, her daughter was described 'Angelic, Charming and Intelligent' by Lee.

He had taken a leave from Japanese Police Department specifically to attend his daughter's dance performance. Where he was unfortunately shot along with his wife. He was able to survive the bullets and became a hero within the department after he survived the horrors. Though everybody claims he killed the shooters and stopped the misery, in which he also takes pride of.

I SIMPLY THINK THAT IS INCORRECT.

Now, I do not have any proof to support why Lee hasn't killed the shooters. But I have a few proofs regarding my new theory:

Aimi is Lee's daughter.

The similarities are too similar to not be similar. I mean, there could be many other girls that could also have taken part in the same dance performance within the exact school. But how will we deny this one proof?

During the dance performance, in order to replicate the dances of an idol, Aimi's words, that she was supposed to speak, were.

'Everybody, support me! Your, Angelic Charming and Intelligent Aimi...!'

I knew these lines because, I was the one who wrote that script for Aimi. Yes, I went to the same exact school as her. I was also her senior.

And even Lee has described his daughter the same way, this clearly indicates that he held onto the trauma and assumed his daughter was killed.

Lee is a power hungry man. He has great financial knowledge just so he could climbbthe ranks within the police by bribing the seniors. It could be why he never told us his daighter's name..."

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Shock! Thud!

"What the..." My voice trembled as I fell down to my seat.

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I temble within my seat,

As I think of all the possibilities Kaito could havee thought when he wrote this...

"All of it..."

"Seems to be true, which.."

Made me come to a conclusion...

"So it means...."

And I spoke with that fear within me, I said

"Lee is...Aimi's..."

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Now, in the Work Room of the Factory

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"Father...you're her Father, Lee...!" Keiko spoke as he coughed to get the air out of him.

"Wa-w...WHAT?!" Lee couldn't believe his ears.

Was this true?!

"Listen to me Lee..."

"I- ...I CAN'T! you gotta be kidding...!"

As the old Keiko laid in Lee's hands, breathing and getting short at his breath,

It was clear he did not have much time left on his watch...

But still, with much struggle he was able to say

"That day... Your daughter DID NOT DIE! She wasn't sold off in the black market either..." Said Keiko.

"B-but... How do I..."

"You what?" Keiko gasped

"What did I..fought for, this entire time?!"

It was clear that Lee was confused. What did he ever fight for?

"My goal...was to find the killers of my daughter, and to FIND HERSELF! But now..."

"Your goal is completed Lee! Though it's not the most preferable way to find you daughter...maybe this will work...!" Keiko gasped.

He didn't have much air to breathe.

"B-but... I still don't believe it." Lee said with a serious face.

"Huh?" Keiko murdered.

"It's... It's.. because, if Ray is her brother, I never had a son to begin with!"

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At the Storehouse

There were no traces of Miko and Michael in this room.

A little traces of blood could be seen, and a note written by Miko. Probably all that

Aiko could have seen.

"Dammit...dammit!" He said to himself.

He wasn't being able to walk properly, yet he still managed to make a few steps out of him as he said

"Now that I realise, when Aimi visited Ray in his jail cell that day..." He said to himself.

"Their talk...it was weird. It wasn't the way I and Lisa did." He realised.

And within the realisation, he came to a conclusion

"The video footage I captured, it shows me full proof that Aimi loves her close ones, but if that's the case... WHY DID SHE KILL RAY?"

And with that,

Sfx: fall

Thud! Bang!

He fell to the chair, as he said

"I mustn't fall..." He murmered as he picked himself back from the fall.

He came to a conclusion.

Which was...

"Aimi and Ray aren't brother and sisters..."

And as he gathered himself back, crouching

Yet he looked up at the ceiling as he said with a look of determination which filled his face

"I... MUST GET THIS INFORMATION TO LEE!"

He began walking.

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At the Corridor

"Now we know, whom Aimi is after?"

"Oh my god... Is it Lee?" Aoi said.

"No stupid. It's us who's she after right now." Minoru said.

"But why us?" Takashi said.

"She has already realised that we aren't a team but rather money-hungry bastards who just met by chance." Minoru said as his eyes grew wider with fear and horror.

"B-but...she knows we are here?!" Alice said with trembling fear.

"It's obvious, with Mai and Michael around, you can tell us four will be present too. We aren't the only ones using our brain, isn't it?" Minoru explained.

"Well, what do we do then?!" Takashi asked.

"Hmm, truth is, I don't know... We should run, probably." Minoru said with a blank face.

"Well, if you don't have any plans, allow me to introduce my-" Alice said as she cracked her elbow joint.

"Wait- no. Let's save that for later."

"Huh?"

"I do have a plan, for now."

And with an evil mind, said Minoru

"We should run further from Aimi as possible, this will cause Lee to catch with Aimi. And I'm pretty sure they would confront each other with this information, overwhelming Aimi completely."

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At the Machine Room

"Lee...make this work..." Keiko gasped as he was short of breath.

And with that,

Thud!

He fell...

"KEIKOOOO...!" Lee shouted.

Why wouldn't he?

Edrick, Harold and now, Keiko.

He kept losing his accomplices.

"Kuuu..." He grinned his teeth, as he looked down at the floor, at Keiko.

"Do it...for me..." Keiko said.

"I keep losing my loved ones, even back then, we have lost Edrick and that pure soul, Mayuri. Right now, I can see Harold and Aiko in danger. And infront of my sight... hff, I SEE YOU! DYING INFRONT OF ME! And yet, I can't do anything?! Why, why gods!" Lee cried.

"This... All deaths that happen around me, all have the same person causing them all, it's my daughter. Let it be anyone, I WONT forgive them. Even if she is my long lost daughter, I won't let you live, Aimi!" Lee countinued.

And with a determined expression, and dedication into his soul mixed with pure hatred, he said

"I won't let you kill any more people, Aimi, you time... ENDS HERE!"

HE BEGAN MARCHING TOWARDS AIMI!

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Outside the Main room

"P-please...Aimi...stop! You need to stop! Forgive me, forgive us all! You're being crazy, Aimi!" Ryou pleaded.

"Why? Why should I forgive you, dear?~ you haven't comitted a single sin, and oh my~ I'm just, you know, 'cleaning up'...this mess that has been created, that stops us from living together happily ever after, isn't it?" Aimi had went insane. She said as she looked back at Ryou.

"Now then, I'm going in. Follow my lead~" Aimi swayed her hips as she seductively yet dominantly indicated Ryou to follow her.

She began walking towards the corridor, slowly and steady, her feet kept moving.

"The gun would've given me more fun~" She said while holding her lips.

"Oops! That rhymed! Fufu~" She giggled.

And as she walked between the fire, as if a fish swims through the sea, or a perfectly aerodynamic plane swims through the air, she went perfectly with such flow of fire around her,

As if the heat of fire, or the violence could affect everyone but her.

And as she kept walking...

STOP.

She suddenly stopped at her pace, and looked forward.

There was this person whom she wa quite familiar with,

Though her expression didn't change, she asked with a playful voice

"Oh wow~ whom do we have here?"

"Aimi... You need to stop. And I'll do, just that." Stood a bold man.

"Oh wow, Mr. Huang- oops- I mean, Lee, why? How do you think will you be able to do so, such an old man and dry? I would probably spare you~" Aimi said as she giggled.

But Lee said nothing, instead

Twist

"Huh?" He twisted his belt, and held something in his hands-

AND AS HE CROUCHED, HE SUDDENLY LEAPED ON TO AIMI!

"I NEVER DIED, IS THAT, HOW YOU'RE TALKING TO YOUR FATHER?"