Chapter 27: I smell danger.

As soon as i saw the face of the men, my heart started to race in fear.

I was wondering why and how they were killed.

Hina was actually at school this morning, and the place where those two died is far away from here.

She wouldn't even had the physical time to do something like that and going to school.

And most of all, we had breakfast together... everything seemed so perfect.

I kept listening carefully to the news, trying to print every information into my mind.

"The two men that were found dead, were part of a criminal gang which police is still trying to eliminate. Here with us, there is Detective Saito, one of the most expert men in these cases." The reporter said, before giving the microphone to the detective.

I was actually surprised.

He was there, like he was expecting something like this sto happen.

"Well... I must say that... things like this happens in a criminal gang. Judging from their wounds and where they've been found, these two probably failed a mission and were severely punished by their leaders. I've already seen scenes like this and I'm pretty sure that it's an internal fight inside the gang. But i promise that i'll work to find every single criminal and put them into jail." The detective said.

His tone of voice was very professional and distant, trying to be as emotionless as he could.

It's his work; he had to stay impartial and not show any emotion or bad feelings.

"Then , Detective, can I ask you something? It's a question that a lot of people are asking in our live stream chat." The reporter said, while reading something from her smartphone.

"Yes, go on. I'm ready to answer to every kind of question." He replied, with a gentle smile.

"Okay... The people are asking if there's a suspect right now." The reporter then asked.

That was a very difficult question for him.

Saying "Yes" would've unleashed a big wave of disapproval and anger, because people could think "Why isn't he in jail yet?!?".

On the other hand, saying "No" would have unleashed another negative reaction of disappointment.

People could say "They are not working! They are useless! Police is useless! They didn't even find the culprit after all this time!".

Well, it's normal. 

People cannot think how hard the situation is, even for someone great like Detective Saito.

"Mmm... well, I must say that right now we have a few suspects and they are staying in jail for some interrogations..." He spoke, but then he stopped, touching his mustache and thinking about something.

He remained silent for a fwe seconds before speaking.

"Detective?" The reporter said with a nervous tone.

I had a strange sensation in my heart that was telling me that Detective Saito was about to say something that could make me shiver.

"Well, there's another suspect that we're keeping an eye on, but she's under our watch every second. But sadly, there are no proofs against her." He said.

My eyes widened in surprise.

He was speaking about Hina, that's for sure.

My heart could tell it.

"But don't worry. My special agents are constantly keeping an eye on her, even when she's home alone." He said.

"...Is he serious? Because if what he said is true, the situation might very dangerous for Hina!!" I said to myself, biting my fingers nervously.

Then, after what he said, the reporter closed the news.

After that, I turned off my TV, thinking about what I could do.

Someone was spying Hina secretly without her consent, and by spying her, someone was also spying me.

And that would've explained why there was someone following me in the crowd... 

I was being stalked because i'm strictly connected to Hina and they are observing me to keep an eye on her.

Everything is a circle, looping on a single target: Hina.

The detective thought that she was the culprit of all the murders he witnessed and was trying one single thing to put her to jail.

After what I heard on TV, I let out a sigh of "relief", because my feeling of not calling Detective Saito saved me.

I was about to tell him that the men who died were the ones who almost killed me in a "Punishment expedition".

With that information, and by knowing that Hina almost killed them in front of my eyes, he could have all the rights to interrogate Hina and arrest her for being a suspect.

"That was so close..." I thought, while putting my hands on my face and sighing.

Then, I stood up from my sofa and decided to eliminate all that I saw on TV from my head.

I headed to the kitchen to drink some water to cool my head.

Too many coincidences.

I had a feelings that Detective Saito could call me in any moment, and I knew that I had to speak as fluently as I could in order to don't raise any kind of suspect.

But then , during my daydreaming session, I remembered another particular thing: Sakura had contacts with Detective Saito, and i also remembered that she told me so many inconsistent things that I didn't even know what to believe.

*RING RING* 

I heard the sound of my ringtone coming from the other room.

My heart started to beat since it wasn't a message, but it was a call.

I tried to ignore it since I didn't want to speak with anyone except Hina.

After some seconds, the call ended and I let out a sigh of relief.

*RING RIING*

The phone started to ring again and a cold shiver ran trough all my spine, leaving me nothing more than mere fear.

I had a feeling that i had to answer that call, so I took a deep breath of courage and walked into the other room to call the phone.

Once I was there, I saw the phone ringing on the sofa.

A big sense of fear started to raise inside my heart and i was way too scared to get close to the phone.

*RIING RIIIING*

For some particular reason, the sound of my ringtone was more louder and "distorted" to my ears and hearing it only increased my sense of fear.

I was looking at the phone with almost horror, like I never did in my life.

"I don't want to answer this... i fuckin' don't..." I said into my mind, swallowing some saliva.

But I also had the feeling that the person calling wouldn't have stopped.

So, I walked towards the phone.

Every step was getting heavier.

I then swallowed some more saliva and saw the caller.

"Who the hell is this...?" I said, confused.

There was no number calling, but my phone was ringing.

The number was hidden but there were the options of accept/refuse.

Without thinking twice, I accepted the call.

"Y-Yes? It's Kai Suzuki. Who is it?" I said, trying to sound like I wasn't scared.

"...Kai...Suzuki." I heard a strange-distorted voice, but I could tell that it was feminine.

It scared me a little.

"Y-Yes. It's me. Who is it?" I asked again.

"Who I am does not matter." The voice said.

My anxiety levels were raising even more.

"What ? Who are you? And how did you get my number?" I asked, with an "angry" tone of voice.

"...How was the water that you bought earlier, Kai?" The voice said.

My eyes widened after hearing that and my pupils became smaller from fear.

I felt my heart squeezing into my chest for a second.

"W...What...? Who are you?!?!" I shouted angrily.

"If you care about your life, met me at the same Café in 30 minutes. I have something to talk you about." The voice whispered, with a calm but aggressive and cold tone of voice.

"WHAT THE-?!" I yelled trough the phone.

"See you there." The voice said.

"... What if i don't?" I asked, swallowing some saliva.

"Trust me, you don't want to find out." The voice replied.

"Hahaha..." I laughed nervously, "Y-You can't do anything." I said, trying to hide my fear.

"..." The voice remained silent for some seconds.

"I was right. That's a prank from Haruto or Yuna, right?! Ahaha- Cut it out, guys!" I said nervously.

"Does Hana liked grilled meat?" The voice asked.

After hearing that, I became confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Maybe she will meet his same destiny." The voice replied.

Then , something just snapped, something inside of me.

I was frozen in fear, finally understanding what she meant.

Hiro almost burned to death and "Grilled meat" was referred to his burned body.

The voice basically said "If you won't come , I'll kill Hana."

"WHAT THE-!! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TO HURT HANA! I'LL KILL YOU!" I screamed trough the phone.

My voice was shaking from a mix of anger and fear and my body was trembling form nervousness.

I didn't even notice that my heart was beating really fast and that I was breathing really heavily.

For some reason, when the voice mentioned Hana, my blood started to boil.

She was someone very special and dear to me, someone I shared memory with since my childhood.

And more than that, she was totally innocent and pure and she had to remain out from this situation.

"Oh... did I touch a sensitive topic...? Haha---. I'll wait you there. Bye." The voice said.

"WAI-" I tried to speak but the call was over.

After that, I took a rapid look at the call history and it seemed like this call never happened.

"What the fuck..." I said to myself with a nervous sigh.

Then , an attack of anger embraced my heart.

"FUCK!" I shouted while throwing the phone on the sofa with violence.

Luckily it didn't broke.

After that, I sat down to calm my senses and take some air.

"I fucking hate my life now." I said to my self with an angry tone.

Then, I walked into the bathroom to wash my face.

As soon i saw the reflex of my face in the mirror, a wave of anger embraced my soul.

"Kai... couldn't you just mind your own fuckin' business that day ?!?" I said to the mirror, while my hands were on the borders of the sink.

After finishing this moment of "cooling down" my anger, I put on my mask, sunglasses and hat again and walked out the house to reach the destination.

I locked the door and started to walk.

My mind was a total whirlwind of emotions and i was ready about every possible outcome.

"What the heck should i do now...?" I said to myself while walking very rapidly.

I was doing all of this to protect my friends and Hina.

And more than that, I knew that i was totally alone.