March 3rd, 2036 - Moonlight Entertainment"When the guards said you came to see me, I thought it was some kind of joke," Soichiro commented as he walked over to the couch. Surprisingly he took a seat opposite her and not beside her.
Lila laughed. "I think I learned my lesson. It seems like those people want to continue insisting."
Soichiro sighed, "And now you realize. Though you"re finally here, I don"t have much information to give you."
Eh?
He pointed to the door opposite. "That guy is doing everything these days. It leaves me with nothing to do."
That guy? Lila stood up and crossed the room until she arrived in front of the door. She glanced back at Soichiro, but he was already doing something else. Lila peeked her head through the door and spotted silver hair by one of the computers. The entire wall behind him covered in papers.
Her gaze softened when she saw the sight. This must be why Kiryu looked so tired all the time. Yet he still helped her out in the hospital.
Still, Lila wondered how Kiryu persuaded him. Soichiro is not the type of guy who would let people do his work for him. She discovered this a long time ago. When they first worked together, he was very stubborn about anyone getting involved in his cases. For that very same stubborn guy to accept Kiryu.
"While I appreciate you staring at me, I prefer it when you"re not silent."
Lila rolled her eyes and walked over to him. She took a seat on the chair beside him. "I came here to help investigate, but he sent me here. What are you doing now?"
"Profiling."
Lila pulled a frustrated look when he said that, and Kiryu laughed. "Going to run away again?"
"No, let me try."
For the next few minutes, n.o.body spoke, and the two of them continued with their own work. Lila was too busy concentrating on the profiles, so she didn"t realize that Kiryu moved his chair closer to her.
"Your concluding things too soon." Kiryu suddenly commented.
Lila glanced over at him and sighed. "You know I"m bad at this."
"But since you have the drive to improve. Let me help you." he picked up one of the profiles from her hands. Their hands lightly brushed against each other, causing her gaze to soften.
She still can"t forget it, the warmth of his hands when she was in the hospital.
"It"s a work in progress, profiles. You can"t conclude things so easily. Even when you do find an answer, you can"t say your answer is the correct one. There may be some unexpected things about the suspect that you couldn"t learn from a.n.a.lyzing their background.
Lila looked down at the other profiles in her hands. For the past few minutes, she kept highlighting and writing things down. But after hearing Kiryu"s words. Lila wanted to sc.r.a.p everything. Kiryu, however, stopped her.
"I didn"t say you were wrong. There is nothing wrong with your mindset. You approached this, just like any good student would."
Lila laughed at his comment. "I don"t think being a good student works during this situation."
Kiryu shook his head, "It makes things refres.h.i.+ng. You can see things other people wouldn"t usually see."
Is that a compliment or not? Still, she indeed reached a conclusion too soon.
"Besides, if you think about it. Even if we do all this a.n.a.lyzing, there will always be things we don"t know about the victim and the murderer or the actual case. A background story only those involved will know," Kiryu took out another cigarette and proceeded to light one. But Lila watched as his lighter wouldn"t light.
"Honestly, he doesn"t change does he.." Lila extended her hand out, and a small flame appeared in her fingers, causing the cigarette to light.
Kiryu smiled. "Thanks."
"Ah-huh," she looked away. It was just a regular smile, and yet, Lila felt her heart beating. These moments with Kiryu feel so relaxing. Lila didn"t know when the last time she felt so relaxed was. She turned her chair around, so it was back to back with Kiryu"s, and he laughed.
"What are you doing?" he seemed half amused and half puzzled.
"Mmm, this is better." Lila nodded.
Since looking at him directly is dangerous, isn"t something like this okay? Kiryu sighed.
"Honestly, I don"t know what"s with you these days. Aren"t you stopping by the Austin manor a lot too?"
Lila laughed. "Uh, wait, you know about that?"
"You"re supposed to be in the hospital and yet…"
"I"m just worried about you," Lila admitted.
"I guess I can"t argue with you there. But you should worry about yourself more. Is it okay for you to be here?"
"If I told you I caused a fuss and threatened my doctor, what would you say?"
"Well, I would be proud of you, of course. It isn"t like you to sit around and do nothing during these times. I do want to keep you safe. But, the situation has escalated this far."
"Is that you asking for my help?"
Kiryu nodded. "Yeah, please help."
"If he is so honest like that, she can"t tease him." "Are these profiles from the regulars at that club?" Lila asked.
"They were involved in a recent accident." Kiryu pa.s.sed her some photographs.
Lila examined them. The sight devastated her greatly. She hardly recognized the people in the photographs. Somebody had cut up the bodies so severely and damaged the faces, so it no longer looked like the person anymore. Lila quickly realized why. Eyes, noses, and lips from different people.
"Some of the body pieces are missing," Lila observed. "The lips from the lady, the old guy"s leg…"
Kiryu nodded. "We think they plan to use those for another piece; we are just waiting for it. But at the same time, I think there won"t be another display."
"What makes you say that?"
"Did you hear the news about the missing people?"
"Ah, yes."
"One of the ones who went missing is a daughter from a prominent family. Kasuraga Kurumi, she is…"
"Wataru"s stepsister, right?" Lila looked at the photo. She recognized the girl immediately, of course.
"You"ve met her?"
"Once before, but this girl, when did she go missing?"
"Back in April."
Eh? Wait back in April? Lila sighed. "Did you ask Soichiro?"
"Ask him?"
"This girl she was with me during my training days. I think she was one of Soichiro"s women.." Lila mumbled. She couldn"t forget the girl who kept mocking and putting her down. "But it"s weird. Didn"t Soichiro see these? He would have told you, right?"
Kiryu shook his head. "I didn"t show him the victims."
"Eh, why?"
"Well, I don"t exactly trust him Lila.." he trailed off. "I wanted to ask you about that deal you made with him."
Uh-oh, it seems like she won"t be able to escape from this. Her thoughts broke off when the doors suddenly opened. An angry-looking Soichiro emerged.
"Can you tell your husband to leave you alone for even a moment?"
Eh? Lila blinked. She stood up and walked over to the window. From below, she spotted bright brunette hair by the front gate. The security guards all looked puzzled; it seemed like they didn"t know what to do with him.
She quickly opened the window. Thankfully they weren"t on the top floor. But near the lower floors. Lila quickly called out. "Haruka, stay there. I will come out."
Haruka"s gaze softened. "Mmm, alright."