by Sekina Mayu
Chapter 12
“Where are we going?” Mr. Ninomiya asks one of us. Despite the injury, he’s still concerned about where we’re planning to bring him. “We’re going to my place. Your girlfriend is there too. Besides, we need to get you treated as soon as possible. Otherwise, your girlfriend will be angry at us,” Mr. Sakakibara answers him. He blushes whenever Mr. Sakakibara is making fun of his relationship with Nanase.
I’m sitting at the back with Mr. Ninomiya. “It amazes me that you guys are PSIA agents,” he says to me, “I know that you’re Senior Kimizuki’s children. But I’ve never met you guys in person until you came to see Shiori. It’s just that, I never thought that you would be involved in something this dangerous. You sure are something if you can join PSIA at such a young age.”
“No, there’s nothing spectacular about us. We just happen to be good enough to become PSIA agents. Besides, dad has been training us since we were kids. By the time we were 15, we were already good enough to become a PSIA agent,” I reply. He doesn’t have to know about our horrific involvement with the Transhuman Development Project. It’s because it’s going to be a lengthy explanation. And I don’t feel like doing it.
We arrive home after an hour drive from Odaiba. Ms. Shoko is already on standby when we arrive. “Good job, guys. I’m glad that we’ve made it this time as well,” she says to us when she sees us. It looks like Ms. Shoko is here, waiting for the news about Mr. Ninomiya’s safety. “I’m sorry, Ms. Mayuzumi,” Mr. Ninomiya apologizes to her. “That’s alright,” she says, “What’s important is that you’re safe now. That’s all matters to me.”
Once we’re upstairs, Ms. Chiyo then brings Mr. Ninomiya in another room to treat his injury. It’s better for Ms. Chiyo to double check his injury once again just to see if he has other injuries. We may have missed something since we were in a hurry during that time. In the meantime, the rest of us gather in the living room while waiting for Ms. Chiyo to treat Mr. Ninomiya.
“Did Ninomiya tell you anything about the person who injured him, Touka?” Ms. Shoko asks me. I feel contemplated to say that it was Shiori who tried to kill him. But even if I don’t tell them, they will find out about it eventually. It hurts me to say this that Shiori’s mind control is complete. “He stated that it was Shiori,” I answer her. Everyone doesn’t look surprised. It looks more to me that they already expect it all along.
“So, we’re too late to save her?” Yuuto asks me. I can only nod because I don’t think we have any option anymore to save her. Yuuto looks frustrated. He also feels that there’s nothing much he can do right now to reverse the situation. Ms. Shoko pats my shoulder, trying to comfort me. “I’m sorry to know about this, but you should be aware by now what you need to do. Whether you like it or not, you have to kill her,” she says to me.
Ms. Shoko’s words somehow petrify me. Despite knowing that I need to kill her, I begin to succumb to the fear that I may not be able to shoot her. I know that she will come and kill me if I don’t kill her, but I’m not sure if I can do this. Now, I feel powerless. Everything is just exactly what Satoru Yuuya wants from the beginning. He can’t stop me physically, but he can stop me mentally and emotionally.
Ms. Chiyo comes out of the room thirty minutes later. “How is he?” Ms. Shoko asks her. She looks anxious when she asks Ms. Chiyo about him. “Well, he was bleeding a lot. But luckily, we were quick enough to find him and treat him fast. Otherwise, I doubt that he’ll survive,” she replies. Suddenly, we hear a loud noise coming from downstairs. Nanase is the one who is running upstairs. She looks exhausted as she comes in.
“Where’s Kei? Please, let me see him,” she begs. Before Ms. Shoko says anything to her, I stop her track, signaling her to let me handle Nanase. “He’s in the room next door. He was injured, but luckily we were quick enough to treat him. Since his injury was quite severe, please allow him to rest. You can see him after that.” She cries, feeling relieved that Mr. Ninomiya is safe.
It takes a while for Mr. Ninomiya to be fully recovered. Throughout the time, Nanase insists on taking care of him until he’s awake. Even though she feels tired, she’s still pushing herself to look after him. Mr. Ninomiya must be really exhausted that it takes a long time for him to wake up. From the way Nanase is looking after him, I can tell how much she loves him. Mr. Ninomiya sure does mean a lot to her.
Mr. Ninomiya wakes up a few days later. His head hurts, but his injury is already healed completely. As I begin to bring him food, Nanase runs toward him and hugs him. I don’t think anyone tells her about him. Maybe it’s her instinct that tells her about it. “I’m so glad that you’re okay,” Nanase says to him, crying. “I’m happy to see you. You have no idea how much I miss you,” he says to her.
Seeing their happy reunion, there’s nothing I can do but stand still while holding the food tray. I don’t feel like disturbing them, so I just put down the tray on the bedside and leave. As I’m about to put the tray, dad suddenly barges into the room. He seems amused when he sees Nanase is hugging Mr. Ninomiya so tight. “Touka, what are you doing there? You shouldn’t meddle between the lovebirds. That’s not good, you know,” dad says to me.
Mr. Ninomiya blushes because dad is making fun of them. “Nanase, everyone is looking at us,” he whispers to her, trying to push her a bit. But Nanase doesn’t look like she’s going to budge at all. “No! I don’t care if anyone sees us like this. They’re not paparazzi anyway, so I’m fine with that.”
Dad only laughs at Mr. Ninomiya, making him even more embarrassed. “That’s okay, Mr. Ninomiya. I think you should be with her. I’m pretty sure that you guys have a lot of things to talk about. Even Ms. Shoko wants you to take your time. We can always speak to you later,” I say to him as I put the tray on the bedside. I leave the room after that.
Ms. Shoko comes after dad and I leave the room. “How is he?” She asks us. Before we can answer her, she enters the room only to find out that Mr. Ninomiya is cupping Nanase’s face. This makes Mr. Ninomiya even more embarrassed when he sees that Ms. Shoko is witnessing what they do. “It looks to me that you’re doing okay. I thought that you’re on the verge of death or something,” Ms. Shoko says to him.
Mr. Sakakibara and Yuuto who enter later are also witnessing the same thing. I think that Mr. Ninomiya feels even more embarrassed when the rest of us are seeing what they do. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, Ms. Mikitani,” Ms. Shoko says, “But we have urgent things to discuss with him. I hope you don’t mind to leave this room for a moment. This is confidential, so we can’t let you stay here.”
Mr. Ninomiya signals Nanase to leave the room. She seems reluctant at first. But she leaves the room after Mr. Ninomiya is whispering something to her. Once Nanase leaves the room, Ms. Shoko then starts asking Mr. Ninomiya something embarrassing. “Do you actually love her?” Ms. Shoko asks him. He looks beet red because of Ms. Shoko’s question.
Ms. Shoko sighs when she sees how Mr. Ninomiya feels guilty to answer her question. He looks like he’s trying to avoid answering the embarrassing question. “Look, I’m not against your relationship,” Ms. Shoko says, “I just don’t want you to pretend to love her. And you’re using her to convict Shinya Fukuyama. She seems serious about this, so I hope you’re not just pretending to love her.”
Mr. Ninomiya looks away from Ms. Shoko. “Of course, I do. When I say I love her, I mean what I say. I will still love her even if she’s not an idol. I love her for the way she is, even though Shinya Fukuyama programmed her to be a sex slave,” Mr. Ninomiya answers. He clenches his fist when he answers Ms. Shoko’s question. He seems furious whenever he thinks of Shinya Fukuyama.
Ms. Shoko seems relieved when Mr. Ninomiya is being honest about him loving Nanase. The atmosphere becomes awkward after that. So, I begin to ask Mr. Ninomiya first just to get ourselves out of the awkward situation. “Mr. Ninomiya,” I say to him, “When you say that Shiori came and attacked you, was she like Momoko Sugita? What I’m referring to is her behavior was absolutely not wh
at you expected from her. Just tell us anything you notice.”
Mr. Ninomiya looks down when I ask him. “Yes, she was. I never met Momoko Sugita when she was in the assassin mode. But I could tell that Shiori’s movement wasn’t that different from her. In fact, I never told her anything about my real identity. Her movement was just like an experienced PSIA officer. There was no doubt about it,” he replies.
“What happened to her after that?” Ms. Shoko asks him. Mr. Ninomiya pauses for a while before he answers her question. “She left me after that. I thought that she would just kill me since I didn’t have a gun with me. But, she left without doing anything. At first, I thought that she still had a conscience within her. But when I think about it again, it doesn’t make sense. She didn’t want to kill me because she wanted me to tell you guys about her.”
Well, what Mr. Ninomiya says makes sense. If Shiori killed him, then no one will know about her. “I was wondering,” Yuuto says to him, “Was Shinya Fukuyama the one who instructed her to come after you? If that’s the case, I doubt that she would spare you. I’m pretty sure that she would never go against his order. We’ve never encountered anyone who was under the mind control opposed their master’s order.”
Everyone nods, agreeing with what Yuuto says. Even someone like Dr. Hayama couldn’t even oppose the program. At that time, he was still conscious about his thoughts and behavior. I doubt that they can go against their order when their alter ego is taking over their thoughts and behavior. That’s not going to happen for someone who has a mind control effect in a full swing.
“I’m sure that Shinya Fukuyama wants Ninomiya to die. There’s no doubt about it,” dad says to us, “But the absolute order will always come from Satoru Yuuya. I’m not sure about the other idols. But I think Satoru Yuuya has complete control over Momoko Sugita and Shiori. I don’t know what kind of agreement they have behind the back door. But Shinya Fukuyama may not bother so much with what Satoru Yuuya intends to do to both of them.”
“In other words, it was Satoru Yuuya who instructed Shiori to spare Mr. Ninomiya?” I ask dad. Dad nods at me. “Not only he wants Ninomiya to come here and tell us, but he also wants to lure you out. I hate to say this, but he’s still aiming for you even until now. Luring you to Shiori’s apartment was just the beginning. It’s possible that he also wants to lure Hayato out too,” dad answers.
Mr. Ninomiya agrees with what dad says. So, it seems like what dad says is true, after all. I should have known this all along that Satoru Yuuya will never let us off the hook no matter what. He will pursue us for the rest of our life. I don’t know why he wants me, but it’s unforgivable when he drags Shiori into this mess. He’s only using Shiori just to trap me. It was my fault all along that Shiori got herself into this mess. I’m sorry, Shiori, for what I did to you.
Yuuto pats my shoulder, trying to calm me down. “It’s alright, sis. Even though it’s already too late, we’ll do what we can to save her. We won’t know unless we try,” Yuuto says to me. I smile when Yuuto convinces me that there’s a possibility to save Shiori even though we’re not sure how. I guess I’ll figure that out later.
Mr. Ninomiya looks at me. He seems guilty for not being able to save Shiori. “I’m sorry, Touka. I wasn’t fast enough to save her. I even fell into their trap. I could have saved her if it wasn’t because of my mistake,” he says to me. Ms. Shoko sighs when she hears Mr. Ninomiya’s words. “There’s no point for you to grieve about it,” she says to him, “For now, just tell us what you know. We can use your information for better preparation to save Shiori.”
Mr. Ninomiya nods at her. “Alright, I’ll do my best to tell you everything based on my investigation. And also from what I got from Koutarou. I think I should begin with talking about Shinya Fukuyama’s relationship with Satoru Yuuya first.” He then begins to tell us about his finding while he was disguising himself as one of the Muse Agency staffs.
“It was Saburo Matsuda who introduced Satoru Yuuya to him. As you guys already know, Saburo Matsuda was one of the guests who attended his private party. He knew that Satoru Yuuya’s mind control research would benefit someone like him. Maybe he thought that the idols would be receptive to him if they had a mind control device.”
When I hear about this, it’s hard to believe that someone like Saburo Matsuda can be smart sometimes. But just like any other deals, he certainly wants something out of Shinya Fukuyama from this deal. I don’t think that he was doing this because he was honestly wanted to help Shinya Fukuyama. He was willing to help Shinya Fukuyama in exchange for a personal time with the idols. And he wanted it more than what he got in the private party.
“So, before Satoru Yuuya’s involvement, none of the idols have a microchip implant?” Mr. Sakakibara asks him. Mr. Ninomiya nods at him. “Yup, at that time, these idols were being treated like a sex slave in exchange for their fame and fortune. Only a few of them were willing to do this. But for the majority of them, they were doing this because they had no choice. They had to do this because their career was on the line.”
It must be awful to them for not being able to escape from a tyranny like this. And it’s even worse when their career is depending on it. “What makes Satoru Yuuya agreed to do this for him? Does that mean his research about mind control device was already complete at that time?” Dad asks him. “I guess at that time, his research was most likely in the testing phase. He won’t consider the one that the researchers had as a mind control device. Though, we can classify it that way,” Ms. Shoko answers.
“Satoru Yuuya came to the office himself. He was asking for their personal profiles and their medical record. At that time, I was only doing a clerical job. I wasn’t yet a manager,” Mr. Ninomiya replies, “Once he took a look at it, he then agreed to use them in his experiment. In exchange for his research, he only wanted Momoko Sugita to serve for him.”
I can guess that he only wanted Momoko Sugita to serve him because of her extreme abuse in the past. That’s also the same with Shiori. Both of them have more or less the same condition. And this will make them a perfect candidate to program them into a skilled assassin. Maybe later on, he asks Shinya Fukuyama if he can take Shiori with him. I don’t think Shinya Fukuyama would refuse his request since it’s not too much from him. It’s different for Saburo Matsuda, though.
Mr. Ninomiya continues to tell us about his finding. “They only began to do the microchip implant on the idols phase by phase, though. They didn’t do it at once. And the procedure was done with the help of underground doctors. But the first few people who received a microchip implant was Sayaka Minami and Nanase. All idols experienced some sort of abuse in the past. But only Sayaka Minami and Nanase were having an extreme case of sexual abuse.”
“Sayaka Minami and Ms. Mikitani were one of the sex slaves in the private party. So, what about Momoko Sugita? Was she included as well?” Yuuto asks him. “No, she wasn’t on the list as one of the sex slaves for the private party. There were quite a few guests who requested her. But he couldn’t use her as a sex slave. He already gave her to Satoru Yuuya. You can say that she already belongs to him. And there’s nothing he can do about it,” Mr. Ninomiya answers.
For some weird reason, Ms. Shoko smirks at Mr. Ninomiya. “You seem to know a lot about what’s happening at the private party. Did you go to the private party? I’m sure you were able to see a lot of interesting things while you were there.” Mr. Ninomiya looks pissed when Ms. Shoko is making fun of him. “You were the one who told me to sneak into the private party! What sort of question is that?” He yells at Ms. Shoko, but she only laughs seeing his reaction.
“So, that’s how Nanase met you?” I ask him. “Yup, when I think about it, I was meeting her when she was in such a sad and embarrassing condition,” he replies. “So, you met her when she was naked?” Dad teases him when he asks him. Mr. Ninomiya blushes because of dad’s question. I guess maybe it’s true that he found her when she was naked. He doesn’t have to tell us if he doesn’t want to.
/> “Not only she was naked at that time. But her body had many dark bruises everywhere too,” he answers, “I had no idea who was having sex with her at that time. But he must have abused her while they were having sex. On top of that, the door was wide open when I found her. So, no one was in the room other than her.”
I can’t imagine how someone like Nanase can go through a nasty experience like this. On top of that, it must be embarrassing for her to be found by Mr. Ninomiya in such situation. “How did you know the location of his private party? I thought that the private party was by invitation and referral only?” Mr. Sakakibara asks him. “The private party is always held in Shinya Fukuyama’s private mansion in Karuizawa. It’s only the date and the time which is unknown,” he answers.
Mr. Ninomiya then continues with his findings. “I went there with Nanase’s former manager. None of the managers were aware of the private party being a sex party for the guests. They thought that the party was held as a way to celebrate their achievement. After all, they weren’t allowed to attend the party. Everyone knew that Shinya Fukuyama never made any public appearance. So, that was their chance to see him in the flesh. That was what everyone thought at first.”
“Before that,” I ask him, “What happened to the manager?” Mr. Ninomiya looks sad when he recalls about Nanase’s former manager. “Ever since she found out the truth about the private party, she left the agency. She felt guilty for what she did to Nanase even though it wasn’t even her fault. It was thanks to her that I knew about the private party. She felt uneasy about it, so she wanted me to come with her to Karuizawa. We brought Nanase to the hospital after that.”
I’m happy to know that there are still some people who are concerned about the idols. I’m not sure about the other managers, but Nanase is lucky to have someone like her as a manager. But then again, Nanase is also nice to her manager as well. Otherwise, her manager would never bother to go all the way to Karuizawa just to save her.
“Did she know what happened to her before and after that?” Ms. Shoko asks him. Mr. Ninomiya shakes his head. “Unfortunately, she couldn’t recall what happened to her before that. Her last memory was she was in one of the rooms in Shinya Fukuyama’s private mansion. And the person she was with seemed like a high ranking officer from the government agency. She even had no recollection that the man abused her and made her unconscious during sex.”
Nanase’s case is just like a typical mind control effect. This is the same scenario she experienced when she committed suicide. She had no recollection of why she did that. She only found out about this when her manager told her about it. “So this is how you and Ms. Mikitani got close?” Ms. Shoko asks him with a smirk. Mr. Ninomiya nods, still blushing. “Long story short,” he says to us, “I had to be her temporary manager after that. That was when we became close.”
After hearing this, I’m glad to know that there is a positive outcome coming from this mission. Though, it seems unexpected for us. I bet that Mr. Ninomiya is feeling the same about this too. “That’s a wonderful story, but you still haven’t told me how in the world they blew up your cover. Everything seems fine until that day. So, how did that happened?” Ms. Shoko asks him.
She seems angry when she asks him. Mr. Ninomiya seems guilty because of it. Before Mr. Ninomiya says anything, dad signals him to stop for a moment. He pats Ms. Shoko’s shoulder to calm her down. “Listen, Shoko,” he says to her, “It’s not his fault that they already knew who he was. Sooner or later, they will eventually find out that he’s a spy from Public Security Bureau. This is beyond his control, no matter how cautious he is.”
He then looks at Mr. Ninomiya. “You did a good job, Ninomiya,” he praises him, “It was unfortunate that they’ve found out about you. But you should expect this from the beginning that they will blow out your cover sooner or later. At least, we’re glad to know that you’re alright.” Mr. Ninomiya looks down. He seems relieved that dad doesn’t think that he has disappointed his seniors. “I’m sorry for being harsh to you. But I do think you did a good job,” Ms. Shoko says to him.
I can tell that Mr. Ninomiya feels guilty for not being able to save Shiori. “I don’t blame you, Mr. Ninomiya,” I say to him, “I’ve already expected this. We know that we may not be able to save her the moment Satoru Yuuya took her away. At this point, I’m pretty sure that her mind control will be complete. It’s not surprising that she’ll be pointing a gun at you.”
Dad sighs when he sees that Mr. Ninomiya is still feeling guilty for what happened to Shiori. “You’d better not underestimate her, Ninomiya,” dad says to him, “It may already be too late to save her. But she’s not going to give up. I know that my daughter can handle this, even if it’s painful for her. In fact, she’s much stronger than me when it comes to emotion stability. Even I can’t win against her when it comes to this.”
I’m not sure whether what dad says is only to cheer him up. But I’m still thankful that dad believes that I’m doing just fine. Mr. Ninomiya seems to lighten up a bit. I guess he must have blamed himself for what happened to Shiori. Well, it’s understandable he feels guilty because he knows that Shiori is my best friend. And he had a high chance of saving her before Satoru Yuuya captured her.
Yuuto and I head home after the conversation is over. Dad and Mr. Sakakibara are going to have a drink with Mr. Ninomiya, so I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be there. As we reach home, I notice that there is a note. And the note is left for me. I thought that it must be Hayato who had left the note for us.
As I open to read it, I realize that Hayato isn’t the one who sends me the note. It happens to be a note from someone I don’t expect to get. ‘Please see me at the rooftop in Muse Agency at 10 p.m. You can access the rooftop from the outside without going inside the agency building. I want you to be there all by yourself. Regards, Shiori.’
It’s hard to believe that Shiori is the one who sent me the note. From the look of it, it looks more like the note is coming from Shiori’s alter ego. I can’t tell whether if it’s a trap or if it’s the real Shiori who wants to see me secretly. But the only thing I can do right now is to be cautious with this. Maybe this is another trap for me.
Before anyone notices the note, I quickly discard the note. I don’t want anyone to know that I’m going to meet Shiori tonight. It’s dangerous for me to do this on my own. But I don’t know what’s going to happen if Shiori notices that the rest of them are backing me up in disguise. Anything can happen in an unexpected way. This is true when there’s a microchip implant that controls every single of her moves.
