Chapter 17

"And so, both Miss Kotonami and Mr. Uesugi could not provide us with the certain identity of the main perpetrator, or even the people directly involved in their capture," Sebastian concluded the questioning report.

Lory let out a deep sigh while keeping a look out of the windows of his office. "And their welfare?"

"The MEs in the Forensic reported that other than minor muscle atrophy, which should be rectified with physiotherapy, there should be no lasting physical and mental effect. And no victim has been branded, so they should be able to go back into the society with no difficulty."

Feeling his boss' piercing gaze on him, Sebastian quickly added, "My apologies; it was brash of me."

"You were only stating the fact," Lory admitted somberly. "There's no need of you to apologize to me."

"Yes, sir."

"Then, what's Hizri's team working on now?"

"Which Hizri's team, Sir?"

Lory grimaced at that. Leave it to having members of a family in the same organization to easily leave opportunity for such confusion. "Kuon Hizri. I thought Koo is still in the hospital?"

"Being taken care of very well, while at that," Sebastian answered. "As for the young Hizri, he has not come back to the precinct since after being picked up by Madam Juliella this morning. I believe he is, using Ms. Keyes' choice of words, 'sleeping like there's no tomorrow'."

The chief of police chuckled. "Let him have his rest, then," he said. "He definitely earned it. Let him know that he's free to take 2-day leave of absence."

"Yes, sir."

"And his boys?"

"Kijima, Murasame, and Yashiro are still questioning the other victims," Sebastian recounted. "As for Ferrera, he has not come back to the precinct at all since the last raid."

That piqued Lory's interest. "Anybody know why?"

"Unfortunately no, Sir."

"Can you find out for me?"

"Understood."

"Very well," Lory nodded at his personal assistant. "That matter aside; any news on Kouki?"

"Unfortunately no, Sir. Should I notify Division 4?"

Lory frowned in thought, his right hand habitually came to rest on his chin. "Not just yet. No words of this to Maria, either. Understand?"

"Yes, sir."

The drive back home felt so short for Shimona as she spent the whole ride thinking about the information from Kanae. She knew she should not have driven while not being able to focus on driving. She could only thank her luck that no car or daredevil motorcycle was on the road, or even the traffic police on that matter, or she could have been in serious trouble.

Picking up the takeaway bag she had stashed on the back seat, she got out of her smart car and walked to the front door, fumbling with her keys as she tried to open said door. What greeted her was surprising enough for her to drop her takeaway bag to the floor.

The house was full with the smell of food so mouthwatering that Shimona could feel herself drooling. Snapping out of it, she tried to remember who could possibly produce such aroma.

Uncle Koo, the chef of the house, was still in the hospital – strike one.

Aunt Julie's cooking was a complete abomination that should not have existed in this world yet it did – strike two.

Kuon, unfortunately, inherited the worse trait in regards to cooking – strike three.

Maybe Tina and Rick came over? She thought as she briskly walked towards the kitchen. Well, if they do, I can surely keep the Chinese in the fridge for tomorrow's—no, maybe the day after? Kuon eats like birds after all.

Grinning, Shimona entered the kitchen with a big hello for Tina and Rick ready on her tongue, only to have it drop in a bigger surprise.

Both Julie and Kuon were crowding around the stove, which was never a good sign for the fate of their dinner. But next she noticed that they were sandwiching someone around the stove with an atmosphere of excitement and trepidation at the same time.

Don't tell me— Shimona quickly walked towards Julie, the shorter one of the two, and took a peek.

There was Kyoko stir-frying some neatly cut meat and vegetables and rice on a wok over a big flame like a professional chef.

"You can cook?!" the ME blurted out suddenly, causing Julie to squeak in surprise, and in turn, the older woman bumped into Kyoko as she was flipping the wok.

It felt like slow motion for the three blonds as they watched the food float in the air for a moment before falling down, and they almost freaked out…

… until Kyoko expertly caught them all back into the wok.

All rendered speechless, Shimona only managed to say, "Sorry?"

The household faintly heard the front door opening, and the next thing they knew, Rick walked into the dining room with a bottle in his hand and a young woman with long black hair and olive skin following him.

"Hey, guys, wine's here!" he cheered, completely ignoring the awkward atmosphere. Meanwhile, Kyoko continued cooking as if nothing had happened.

All of them, including Rick and his wife, Tina, sat down for the meal, but none of them felt just ready yet to start eating.

"So you know how to cook," Shimona repeated, mostly for herself, while staring at Kyoko who could only fidget uncomfortably on her seat. "And like a pro, while at that. Maybe you worked as a chef before this?"

"Or maybe a housemaid?" Rick added cheekily with another grin. "You can earn big with just this skill, Kyoko, I can assure you that."

That earned him a harmless punch on the arm courtesy of his foster brother.

"Well," Julie said with a smile of her own, "Koo did teach her some things about cooking when she was here last time, so maybe it's because of that?"

Kyoko looked up in confusion. "Did he?"

"I'll tell you the story later," Kuon told her with a smile. "How're you doing, Tina? How's the babe?"

Tina, the olive-skinned woman, answered as she started scooping the fried rice with her spoon, "The doctor said it was all normal, nothing to worry about aside from the usual stuff, so I'll take it as good sign."

"Did you have the doctor check the gender as well? How weeks along are you, anyway?" Julie asked excitedly.

Tine shook her head. "No, I thought we would just leave it for a pleasant surprise," she explained. "But should we?"

"Maybe?" Shimona shrugged, starting to eat as well. "I mean, it'll make shopping for baby stuff easier later if you know the gender instead of just taking a guess and ending up buying the wrong pattern, so– gosh, this is awesome! Kyoko, you sure know your stuff!"

Realizing that she was talking about the fried rice, they continued eating, praising Kyoko profusely for what they deemed was the best fried rice they had ever had since Koo was hospitalized.

Even Kuon was eating more than usual, according to Rick, so that spoke a lot about the meal that night.

"Shall we have Kyoko cook from now on?" Shimona asked. "I mean, it's always better if we can save on lunch money. Of course, if you don't mind, Kyoko," she added the last part hastily.

"Erm, if you don't mind, then sure, I think I can," Kyoko answered bashfully.

The rest of the dinner went by with everyone talking about Tina's baby and Koo.

Once they finished cleaning up and the ladies busied themselves with dessert – Tina's infamous apple pannacotta – Rick and Kuon decided to lounge at the porch, both nursing a mug of beer.

"It doesn't look good at all, Kuon," Rick mumbled, keeping his voice low. "Everywhere I go, everywhere I thought there was a lead, it always come up blank. Like I'm always one or two steps behind, and the opponent can see where I'm going with the investigation."

"The ring doesn't want any loose end and is pretty effective in eliminating it," Kuon mused. "And for them to know the current going-ons in the force, they must be in constant communication with the mole inside."

Rick nodded in agreement. "And you know what makes it worse? I think it might be the Chief."

Kuon froze. "What?" he asked in disbelief. "The Chief, you said?"

"I know. I hope I'm wrong as well," Rick shook his head. "But the thing is, I asked Shingai about the ballistic shield squad failing to reach the site during the raid last time, and he told me it was the Chief who stopped him from going, pretty forcefully as well."

"But it was because we went against protocol–"

"And yesterday I was about to question that bastard Miroku," Rick continued, "only to find that he was already out on bail. With the Chief's permission."

The porch was filled with silence aside from the casual chirping from the critters hiding in the trees and bushes of Julie's prized front yard. Kuon slowly finished the beer in his mug before letting out a deep exhale, as if trying to calm himself.

"It's only circumstantial evidence by far, Rick," he said, before quickly adding, "Not that I don't trust your intuition. And if he's the mole from the start, why bother asking me to form this team?"

Rick scratched his head in frustration. "That's the thing I don't get the most." He stood up from his seat, grabbed his empty mug, and started heading back inside the house. "But this is the only lead I got, and trust me, I ain't giving up on this that easily."

The Ferrera's excused themselves to go home a little after that. Tina gave Kyoko a friendly hug before inviting her in whispers to have a cook-together next time.

After waving their guests goodbye, Shimona immediately went upstairs to her room, trying to catch some well-earned sleep. Kuon, meanwhile, decided to grab the family album and made himself comfortable next to Kyoko on the couch.

"Here it is," he grinned, showing Kyoko a photo of a black-haired little girl – who now she recognized as herself – and a brown-haired man with resemblance to Kuon. The man was smiling giddily in the picture as he tried to help the stupefied small girl who was covered with whipped cream from head to toe, a toppled bowl on one hand.

Kyoko fingered the photo gingerly. "Was he trying to teach me how to cook?" she wondered.

"Decorate a cake, to be exact," Kuon reminisced. "It was almost Mom's birthday that time, and Dad was planning a surprise treat for her. He sent Mom to have fun at a spa resort for a week with friends, then started baking the planned croquembouche. All the time he was busy in the kitchen, you were just standing there, staring at him, until he couldn't take it anymore and offered you to give it a try."

"And where were you at that time?"

He snickered. "Locked out from the kitchen. He knew how disastrous it would be when I tried to help. The only help he asked me was to distract you away, but you wouldn't budge. It was like you didn't notice me at all."

"So you were the one who took this photo?" she asked.

"No, it was Mom," he answered. "She came home a little earlier than planned, and found you and Dad in the middle of lathering the pastry with cream. You were so surprised that you almost fell down the chair you stood on, and the bowl of cream went flying…" The loud laughter burst out from Kuon's mouth, the memory so funny for him his body shook with his laugh.

Kyoko hummed thoughtfully. "He seems like a nice father," she concluded. "If I meet him, will he be able to tell me more about my past?"

Kuon calmed his laughing down and gave her a brilliant happy smile. "He will be so, so happy to see you again. Want to go tomorrow?"

"I thought you had work tomorrow?"

"That's what leave is for. So?"

Kyoko returned his smile. "Sure."

The night in the neighborhood was tranquil and no one was out of their houses. A bell rang, however, breaking the silence, and the door shortly opened. "Who are you?" a short man in his 50's asked in a gruff tone, eyeing his visitor with narrowed eyes. The light from inside his house was reflected upon his thinning black hair, making his expression imperceptible.

In front of him, a black-haired woman clad in thin beige coat and heels stood with a rather large leather bag. She offered him her free hand with an easy smile.

"Good evening. I am Marina Akatoki, and I believe we spoke on the phone earlier today, Kitazawa-san."

The man relaxed. "Ah, yes, from the police." He opened the door wider, shook Marina's offered hand and let her in. "Apologies for the mess, but didn't exactly have time to clean up after your call."

"That's fine," the forensic department head assured him. "Unfortunately I don't have that much time either, so if we can just get to the important matters?"

"Of course, of course," Kitazawa nodded. He gestured for Marina to take a seat on one of the couch in the living room and went to the kitchen, coming back with tea and snacks, which she took gratefully.

"You mentioned that you need my help in an investigation," he began, sitting down on the other couch facing Marina. "I'm rather proud of being able to live away from the hustles and bustles of Neopolis, and as you may have seen, this is a very peaceful neighborhood. How could I be related to any case happening in the capital?"

Marina opened her bag and took out a folder. "I'm not trying to accuse you to be involved in anything, that I can assure you," she said. She opened the folder and put it neatly on the coffee table between them, showing Kitazawa the documents inside it.

His eyes widen upon seeing the photo of a chestnut-haired girl.

"Kitazawa-san," Marina pondered, "what can you tell me about your late daughter Natsu?"

Author's Note:

The hard thing about writing is to have the chunks of ideas set with no way to connect them and make it flow.

I am in need of a beta-reader willing to put up with my snail-paced writing. If anyone's interested, you can shoot me a DM and we'll take it from there.

Thank you for reading. Until next time.

- Reggie