The Mind Control Assassins

by Sekina Mayu

  Chapter 13

  “Touka, where are you going?” Hayato asks me as I’m about to leave the house. I wish I can tell him about the note that Shiori left for me. I don’t know what Shiori’s alter ego will do if she notices that there is someone else besides me. “Does it have anything to do with the note that you got just now?” Hayato asks me again. I guess I can never hide anything from him. He’s no different than dad. He will always pester me until I tell him everything.

  “Yes, it’s a note from Shiori. To be exact, it’s a note from her alter ego,” I answer him. Hayato doesn’t say anything after that. As I’m about to leave, Hayato starts speaking to me. “You’ll go first. Yuuto and I will follow suit. Let’s pretend that we’re following you and you don’t even realize it. I know that will only make you look careless, but we’ll do our best to fool her.”

  I feel relieved that I don’t have to say anything about helping me behind the scene. He sure knows what to do when dad is not around. “I have a feeling that Shiori wants to settle things with me fast. I guess this is going to be our final showdown.” Yes, that’s what my gut feeling is telling me. I feel like she was letting Mr. Ninomiya alive just to tell me that she will come after me later on. She’s been aiming for me all this time.

  “You don’t think about saving her this time?” Hayato’s question has caught me off guard. At this point, I’m not even sure whether I can save her or not. I wish I don’t have to do anything that will put me in a position to kill her. But I don’t think I can do that. Whenever I have to fight anyone who is under the mind control, it will always have one outcome. It’s either the other person or me will die. It’s never a happy ending in that situation.

  “I don’t know. I can only tell when I see her. But if there is a chance, I will save her. Even if it means that the probability is almost close to zero.” Hayato only smiles when he hears my reply. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll do what we can to help you. We also want a happy ending for this. If we can save another one person, that’s already good enough for the rest of us.”

  Hayato’s word makes me feel assured about the good outcome. Without wasting time, I head to Shibuya. This is where Muse Agency is located. Since the agency is somewhat far from where we live, I have to take a train to go there. Throughout the time I’m inside the train, I wish I can confront Shiori without resorting me to shoot her. I hope it’s going to be a peaceful confrontation, but it seems like a rare possibility to me.

  It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for me to reach Shibuya Station. And that doesn’t include the time for me to walk to Muse Agency since the building is a bit far from the train station. Once I reach the rooftop through the staircase, Shiori is there waiting for me. It is a cold night, with the dim moonlight shines on the rooftop. Her gun is placed right on her right waist. From the look of it, it doesn’t look like she’s going to fight me the moment I’m here.

  She notices as I’m already at the rooftop. “Just like what I expect from someone like you. I guess PSIA agents are pretty confident to come here and face an assassin on their own,” Shiori says to me. Just like Momoko Sugita, her voice sounds different than Shiori. Even at a first glance, I know that the person right in front of me is not even her. She only uses Shiori as a physical mean to come in contact with me.

  “You’re not Shiori, aren’t you?” I ask her. She chuckles as I debunk her true identity. “Well, you’re right about that. I’m not Shiori. My name is Natsu. This is the name that Shiori gives me as her alter ego. You already know that Shiori and I are a different person. So, I prefer you to address me as Natsu from now onward.” I cringe when I hear her introducing herself as Natsu. How dare she use Shiori’s body to play around with me!

  Natsu looks amused when she sees how annoying I am with her self-introduction. “I understand that you don’t like me. But then again, you have to face the fact that Shiori you know is no longer exist. Shiori’s real personality is already gone. Only her physical body remains the same.” Her words irritate me even more. “So, you’re free to do anything you want?” I ask her in anger.

  She only laughs at me when she sees my reaction. She looks like she’s enjoying herself toying around with me. “Well, yes. That is as long as Shiori’s real personality doesn’t resurface. She can be a pain to deal with whenever it has anything to do with you. But still, the possibility for her real personality to resurface is zero. In this condition, her real personality will never resurface until my master says so.”

  I have no idea what she intends to do other than making a fool out of myself. But I have to agree with her about this. I can guess that if something like this will occur, it will only cause a chaos within her. Satoru Yuuya is already programming the microchip implant to act this way. The real personality will only resurface until he says so.

  “You don’t look like you’re putting any hope that she will resurface in the middle of the fight. I should applaud you for that,” she says to me. Her voice is more than enough to irritate me. Without thinking too much, I quickly draw my gun. There’s no reason for me to stay with her any longer. Natsu only smirks when she sees me pointing a gun at her.

  “Wow, you don’t even hesitate to shoot your best friend. It seems like you don’t even care about her and your friendship after all,” she says to me in a mocking tone. “Shut up! You’re not even Shiori anyway. Why should I even care about that?” I yell at her. I hate to say this, but my behavior right now is according to her plan. I’m literally dancing on the palm of her hand, following the tune that she creates.

  “Hold on, girl. If you shoot her, you’re not just dragging me to the death door, but her as well. You’d better think twice before you pull the trigger,” she says to me. I smirk at her. Now, it’s her turn to play alongside with my tune. Before she can do anything, I already come near her and kick her. As a result, she falls down farther than where I’m standing. She seems surprised with my surprise attack.

  “I’m amazed that you just struck her without worrying about her. You sure are not afraid of anything,” she says to me as she stands up to regain her composure. “It’s easy for me to do it. Shiori’s personality will never resurface until Satoru Yuuya tells her to do so. In the meantime, I can beat the crap out of you. Even if Shiori notices the bruises all over her body, I know how to coerce her to believe what I say,” I say to Natsu.

  Natsu chuckles at my words. “It looks like Master Yuuya is right about you. It’s not easy to make a fool out of yourself. I guess I have no choice but to kill you then. Otherwise, you’re going to cause a threat to us in the future.” Master Yuuya? Calling him with such an honor shouldn’t be something surprising to me. But it feels weird for me to hear Shiori is addressing him this way.

  Natsu begins her counterattack after I’ve landed an attack on her. Her counterattack is fast, but it’s not as deadly as Momoko Sugita’s counterattack. Momoko Sugita’s counterattack feels more like she has a similar strength to Hayato. But in Natsu’s case, hers is more or less the same as me. Her attacks may not be that strong. But that doesn’t mean I won’t get myself injured if she lands a successful attack on me. I still need to be careful.

  After a few attacks, Natsu looks so exhausted. I understand that the fast counterattack may have zapped her stamina. But it’s unusual to see someone who possesses such strength to be this exhausted. In fact, it’s not even her body to begin with. As she continues her attack, she’s no longer as fast as before. In fact, her attack seems to lose its strength. This makes my attack even deadlier than her.

  My attack somehow hits her vital organ, causing her to have an internal bleeding. She starts to cough out blood as she’s about to stand up. Despite her injury, she begins to grab the gun on her waist. In general, it won’t take that long for someone like her to draw a gun and starts shooting me. It’s unfortunate for her that I’m fast enough to kick her hand before she’s able to pull the trigger. As a result, the gun flies off from her hand.

  She cringes when she sees her gun slips fro
m her grip and flies far from her location. I thought that she’s going to grab the gun and draw it when the time is right. But it seems like she heads straight to me and continues to attack me non-stop. There’s no doubt that despite the injury, she still moves like a martial art expert. But then again, I can tell that her body is about to reach its limit. And she will begin to fall apart any time soon.

  Natsu continues to attack me. She doesn’t seem to care about her body reaching its limit. With her attack isn’t as speedy as the last time, it’s easy for me to evade her and launch my counterattack. Her attack no longer becomes a threat to me even if it hits my vital point. She looks more exhausted than the last time. Because of this, it gives me a chance to attack her, making her to fall down. She’s no longer able to get up because of my attack.

  She looks frustrated as I begin to point the gun at her, getting ready to pull the trigger. As I’m about to pull the trigger, a flash of thoughts comes into my mind. My memories with Shiori suddenly come to me. It’s only for a few moments, but the memories I have with her plays continuously in a fluid motion. As the memories begin to take over my mind, I feel like my finger paralyzed out of sudden. Now, I can’t pull the trigger to shoot Natsu.

  “What’s wrong with you? Aren’t you the one who want to kill me so badly? Why are you freezing here?” She smirks at me when she says this. It looks like she notices that I can’t pull the trigger no matter how much I want to kill her. “Ah, I get it. You can’t pull the trigger because if you do that, you end up killing your best friend. You hesitate because you don’t want to feel guilty for what you do. Heh, you’re not as strong as I thought,” she says to me.

  I hate to admit it, but she’s right. I know that the person who is right in front of me is not even Shiori to begin with. I want to kill her alter ego, but killing her will also mean that I will kill Shiori in the process. The burden of carrying the guilt throughout my life feels much stronger than ever. I guess this is the feeling that scares me the most.

  As I’ve become lost in my own terror, I fail to realize that there’s someone else approaching me from behind. “Good job, Natsu. You’re able to stop her track even without relying on strength. You don’t have to kill her physically if you want to win this fight. You already win the moment your enemy is about to fall apart mentally and emotionally.” That voice seems familiar to me. Don’t tell me that Satoru Yuuya is here and he’s right behind me?

  When I turn around, I realize that Satoru Yuuya is already behind me. When does he come here? I don’t even realize his presence at all. With Satoru Yuuya is here, then that means they’re going to kill me again. “Don’t worry. He’s not here to kill you. He only wants to see you in person,” Natsu says to me. I don’t trust what Natsu says to me, but I do admit that I can’t feel any murderous intent coming from him.

  “We meet again, Touka Kimizuki,” Satoru Yuuya greets me. My hand is shaking as I’m not sure who I should point my gun to. “Why are you standing still? Don’t you think this is your opportunity to shoot Natsu? She can’t do anything to evade your shot. She can’t even shoot you in this distance because she doesn’t have a gun with her. If you don’t, the situation will be reversed. And you end up in hot water instead.”

  Satoru Yuuya’s words hurt me more than I thought. He’s trying to lure me to shoot Natsu. Satoru Yuuya is getting closer to me. And yet, I look confused, not knowing the course of action I should take. Natsu smirks at me when she sees how indecisive I am. It looks to me that luck isn’t on my side, even at this given moment.

  Before Satoru Yuuya is getting any closer, someone comes from behind, stopping his track. “Sorry, you can’t go any further than this.” Hayato is fast enough to stop him before he gets any closer to me. His arm is curling around Satoru Yuuya while pointing his tactical pen at his neck. “Listen, Touka. Whether you like it or not, you have no choice but to shoot her now,” Hayato says to me.

  Hayato’s word gives me the courage to shoot Natsu despite not even sure whether it’s the right thing to do or not. Before Natsu can say anything, I shoot her without hesitating. Instead of shooting straight to her chest, I shoot at her leg instead. “I can’t kill you, but I can stop your track by shooting your leg. In the worst case scenario, someone else will shoot you on my behalf if you try to do anything funny.”

  Since Hayato is here, I bet that Yuuto is here too. He’s currently waiting for the opportunity to shoot any of them at the given moment. Satoru Yuuya seems surprised with my action, but he only smiles when he witnesses what I’ve done. “I’m amazed that you would take such action. I don’t expect you to shoot her leg. But it’s interesting to see that you’ll do something beyond my expectation,” he says to me.

  Satoru Yuuya only smiles despite the fact that Hayato is gripping tightly on his neck. “You don’t expect me to be able to free myself from your grip, do you?” Before Hayato can do anything, he elbows Hayato’s chest. His attack will allow him to free himself from Hayato’s grip. I find it hard to believe that he’s able to land an attack on Hayato and making him to fall back.

  I guess this is the first time I see someone who is able to make Hayato falls back like that. The attack must be strong enough for him to make him fall on the ground. I know that it’s not easy for any normal human being to knock down someone like Hayato. If Satoru Yuuya is able to knock him down in a split second, it means that he must have the same strength as Hayato.

  As I’m about to attack him, Satoru Yuuya warns me not to get any closer to him. “You’d better not do anything reckless, Ms. Kimizuki. Otherwise, you’ll be in a worst condition than him. You should know by now that you have no chance to win against me. Maybe you do have a chance if both of you come and fight me, though,” he says to me.

  I cringe when he says those things to me. It never crosses my mind that Satoru Yuuya can be this strong. I admit that he’s a pure genius, but I never thought that his strength is the same as Hayato. With his strength like this, I don’t think it’ll be an easy feat to capture him. It looks like we can only rely on Hayato to capture him since we’ll be dead meat even by just getting near him.

  He smiles when he looks at my direction. “What are you going to do next? Are you going to fight me on your own?” I sigh when he asks me that. “I like to settle things by exchanging fists with you, but I don’t think it will lead me to the answers to my questions. But he’s going to fight on my behalf instead,” I say to him as I point my finger at Hayato. Hayato regains his composure after Satoru Yuuya knocks him down.

  As he walks towards Hayato, I notice a bullet is heading to his direction. It must be Yuuto who shoots him. Despite his accurate shot, Satoru Yuuya is still able to dodge his shot. It’s rare for someone like Yuuto to miss his shot. But I guess that Satoru Yuuya must have known all along that Yuuto will shoot him. It’s even much easier if he can guess Yuuto’s current location. The only thing for him to do is to avoid the shot when he needs to.

  After Yuuto’s failed attempt to shoot Satoru Yuuya, he walks to Hayato as if nothing happens to him. “It’s good to see you again, Kusanagi,” he greets Hayato, “I just don’t expect you to fight with them. I guess the phrase birds of feather flock together seem accurate for you guys.” Both of them remain silent and stand still for a moment, waiting for a chance to start their attack.

  After a while, the fight between them begins. Since both of them are equal in strength, it’s hard to know who has the upper hand since the fight is so intense. All I can say is the fight is more like a fight between two monsters in a human form. Even after the intense fight, none of them seems to back away. They’re not going to end the fight just yet. Before Hayato is about to launch another attack, Satoru Yuuya signals him to stop. He seems like he wants to surrender.

  “I admit that I enjoy this fight. In fact, I haven’t had a fight this intense for so long. I wish I can fight you a bit longer, but it’s a shame that I need to leave now.” Hayato looks frustrated when Satoru Yuuya stops the fight. “Wait,” I yell at
him, “If you intend to leave now, at least tell us why you’re doing this. Why you killed your colleagues in UC Berkeley? Why you agreed to take part in Transhuman Development Project? And why you’ve decided to use the mind control device on these idols?”

  He chuckles when I ask him that. “Ms. Kimizuki,” he answers, “I thought that you guys understand this better. We have a lot of things in common. One of the things we have in common is curiosity. And another one is we killed someone before in the past. It doesn’t matter whether it’s in the name of self-protection. Or maybe you’re just curious how it feels like when you kill someone with your own hand.”

  I admit that we do have something in common, but I don’t kill people because I’m curious. I only do it because I have no choice. I wish I don’t have to, but if I don’t, they will kill me instead. That was the situation both Yuuto and I was in when these people were pursuing us at that time. Satoru Yuuya only chuckles when he sees how much I frown upon his answers.

  “Ms. Kimizuki, don’t get me wrong,” he says to me, “I know that you guys kill people because you have no choice. But it’s different in my case. I killed people because I was curious about the feeling of killing people with my own hand. Besides, I was also wondering about my own strength and intelligence too. Don’t you think that the best way to test it out is by killing them? At least they were able to see the power of transhuman for themselves.”

  So, that’s the reason why he killed them all? I try to identify if he hides his real reason behind killing them, but I don’t sense anything. I guess maybe it’s true that he’s doing this because he’s curious. “What about Transhuman Development Project and also implementing mind control devices on these idols? Were you doing it because of curiosity as well?” I ask him.

  He nods when I ask him those questions. “That’s right. I’m only doing it because I’m curious, even at the expense of someone else’s life. My research about using a microchip implant as a mind control device was only my pet project back then. I never thought that it would be completed during Transhuman Development Project. It amazed me even more that these researchers ended up being my guinea pig without knowing it.”

  He smiles as he continues to tell me more about his reason. “I never thought that it will allow me to witness something interesting along the way. This is true especially when I have Momoko Sugita and your friend at my disposal. Sure, Transhuman Development Project is already history. But that doesn’t mean I can’t observe you. You, your brother and Kusanagi are my interesting test subjects. You guys never fail to amuse me. ”

  I become even more frustrated after hearing his reasons. After our brief conversation, he then picks up Natsu’s gun and heads towards her. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling that something is about to happen. For some reason, my whole body feels paralyzed out of sudden. I know that I should run towards him and stops him. But somehow, my legs are not moving at all. It feels like there’s some sort of unknown force which prevents me from moving.

  Once he’s near Natsu, he begins to whisper something to her. “Good job, Natsu. But too bad, this is the end.” As soon as he whispers the phrase to her, Natsu snatches the gun from his hand and starts to place it on her head. Satoru Yuuya only smiles when he sees how desperate I am to move as fast as I can just to stop her from shooting herself.

  “I’m sorry, Touka. You should know already that I can’t defy the program. And it won’t help at all even if you try to butt in. It’s not going to work. It was short, but I’m glad to know you. Thanks for being nice to Shiori.” She smiles and closes her eyes when she’s about to shoot herself in the head. A loud bang fills the silence as she pulls the trigger. The blood starts to flow from her head after the shot. Even in this situation, she still smiles at me even until the end of her life.

  I stop midway because I find it hard to believe that Shiori dies right in front of me. And I’m too powerless to stop her. As I’m grieving over Shiori’s death, Hayato is quick enough to chase after Satoru Yuuya. He’s at the edge of the building after he whispers something to Shiori. He looks like he’s about to jump from the rooftop. He smiles when he looks at me. “What a shame that you can no longer save your friend anymore,” he says to me.

  He begins to jump off from the rooftop after he says that to me. Even Hayato fails to react fast enough to grab him before he falls off. After witnessing the tragic scene, I don’t even move an inch. I still find it hard to grasp what’s happening right now. I only come to my own realization when Yuuto contacts me.

  “Sis, I hate to say this, but I can’t identify the person who is lying on the ground. But the dead body is now attracting the crowds who happen to be in the nearby area. And they seem to suspect that the body comes from the rooftop. So, it’s better for you and Hayato to leave as soon as possible before they go there. It’ll be dangerous for you to stay there. I already informed dad about this, so he and Ms. Shoko will head there soon,” Yuuto says to me.

  I find it hard to believe that the person who died is not Satoru Yuuya. But who in the world is that? Despite Yuuto’s warning, I still can’t move despite knowing that I have to. My body doesn’t feel like wanting to leave Shiori behind. “Touka, we should go down as soon as possible. It’s better for us to leave this place before we get ourselves caught up. Keep in mind that we’re the only people here. They may suspect us if we don’t leave this place fast,” Hayato says to me.

  Hayato helps me to stand up and drags me to leave this place. Once we reach the ground, we can hear people whispering about the person who falls down from the rooftop. Judging from their conversation, they don’t seem to know anything about the person. I think that Satoru Yuuya must have killed someone and use this person as his scapegoat.

  While I can leave this matter to the police, I feel like asking people around. I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this. “Excuse me, what’s going on here?” I ask one of the people there. It’s better for me to ask any of them just to avoid suspicion on me. “Someone fell from Muse Agency rooftop. I have no idea who he is, but I think he must be working here. Otherwise, he won’t choose to jump off from this building,” one of the people says to me.

  Both Hayato and I have decided to have a look at the scene for ourselves after that. As we get nearer to the scene, I realize that the person who died is actually Shinya Fukuyama. How in the world Shinya Fukuyama ends up dead instead? After witnessing the scene, both Hayato and I leave the crowd. “The person who died just now is indeed Shinya Fukuyama,” I whisper to him.

  Hayato looks surprised when I tell him that. “How do you know it’s him?” He asks me. I pause for a while before I answer him. “I saw him in a picture. Shiori had shown me a picture of her with him before. So, I knew it was him at a first glance.” Hayato and I leave the place after that. It’s hard to believe that Satoru Yuuya also killed Shinya Fukuyama. We don’t know why he killed him, but I’m not surprised that he’s doing it out of pure fun.

  I should have known that a person like Satoru Yuuya will never commit suicide. A few days after the incident, the police had confirmed the identity of the person who fell from the rooftop. That person is indeed Shinya Fukuyama. Not only that, but we also can’t find Satoru Yuuya anywhere. It looks like he disappears without a trace once again. For some reason, I feel that we will cross the path with him someday. It’s just that, I don’t even know when it will happen. It sure is tragic, but I’m glad that it’s over.

  Epilogue

  “Thank you,” Shiori says to me. I look at her with a puzzled look. “For what?” She shrugs when I ask her that. “Everything you do for me. And that includes setting me free.” Setting her free? I still look confused when Shiori tells me that. “What I mean by that,” she says, “It’s for setting me free from those tortures. I can only do this with your help. So, please don’t blame yourself. I just want you to live a happy life.” Shiori parts her way after she says that.

  Shiori appears in my dream once again a few weeks after her deat
h. I cry as I wake up from the dream. I don’t even know that she always wishes that she will be free from the misery. We took charge of her funeral since she didn’t have a family. She always told me that she wished to have a family like mine, so we’ve decided to take charge of the funeral for her. Even dad was okay with this because he also treated Shiori like his own daughter. This was the least we could do for her. It wasn’t much, but I hope that she was okay with this.

  I just move along with my usual life. I may look okay on the outside, but my heart is trembling in sorrow. It’s hard for me to go on with my life. It feels like Shiori’s death is only yesterday. Even a few weeks after her funeral, I still go to the graveyard to visit her grave. “You’re going there again?” Yuuto asks me. I nod my head without saying anything to him. He also doesn’t say anything back to me. And he goes home without me after that.

  As I reach Shiori’s grave, I begin to offer a silent prayer for her. During her funeral, only close friends and family were attending her funeral. We didn’t disclose her funeral and even her grave to her fans. We don’t want strangers to come and visit her. We don’t know what they’re planning to do if they come here. Maybe they throw rubbish at her grave. Or maybe they scribble nasty words on her grave. Sure, they don’t necessary have any ill intention. But we’re just being cautious here.

  There are so many things running through my mind as I stand right in front of her grave. I still remember vividly how she died right in front of me. Just like Shinya Fukuyama’s death, her death was also related to Satoru Yuuya. So, the police declared their death as a suicide just to hide their actual cause of death. People who knew Shiori found it hard to believe that someone like her would commit suicide. It felt surreal to them.

  I understand their feeling. But we couldn’t disclose her real cause of death for confidential reason. Even if we could, it was still obvious that she died because she shot herself in the head. Besides her death, everyone was also surprised with Shinya Fukuyama’s death. They felt weird that both of them died at the same time. Even worse, their cause of death was similar.

  Because of this, there was a rumor going on in Tako Forum. According to the rumor, Shiori was Shinya Fukuyama’s secret lover. Maybe there was a tension in their relationship which prompted him to kill her. They were saying that the tension occurred because she wanted their relationship to be public. But Shinya Fukuyama refused. In the end, he killed her and disguised her death as a suicide. After he killed her, he committed suicide.

  Of course, many of her fans backlashed the rumor. They felt that the rumor was rather absurd. They knew that Shiori had never dated anyone. And Shinya Fukuyama had only paid attention to her when she got a major debut. Other than that, there was no evidence that pointed out their secret relationship. Even Mr. Nishikawa debunked that the rumor was not true at all. I was grateful to Mr. Nishikawa for clearing Shiori’s name from this rumor.

  As for Shinya Fukuyama, he was already dead before he fell down from the agency building. We suspected that Satoru Yuuya was the one who killed him. Based on the autopsy report, there was a choking mark on his neck. So, we assumed that Satoru Yuuya must be the one who choked him. It was possible for him to do it because of his superhuman strength.

  After we held a private wake, Ms. Shoko allowed us to organize a public wake for her. Her public wake was the same like the public wake for Momoko Sugita. There were many people who were attending her public wake and offered a silent prayer to her. With so many people attending the public wake, they also noticed something suspicious. They noticed that the police kept on going in and out of the Muse Agency building.

  This was when they found out that Public Security Bureau was closing down the talent agency by force. They had enough evidence to convict Shinya Fukuyama for sex trafficking conduct. This drastic action by them came as a surprise to the idol industry. They found it hard to believe that Shinya Fukuyama would do such thing. Even the general public was surprised that something like this did happen in Japan. And they didn’t expect it would occur in the idol industry.

  Of course, active users in Tako Forum and Mr. Nishikawa’s blog readers already knew this. They didn’t find anything surprising about this news. On top of that, they were also making fun of the people who were denying what Mr. Nishikawa has been saying all this time. Some of the comments left on his blog and even on Tako Forum were harsh, though. So, I didn’t feel like reading what they’ve posted word-by-word.

  After the forced close down, idols who had yet to go major debut were still not giving up on their dream. They even joined another agency so then they would get a major debut someday. Despite their willingness, it was still difficult to get accepted by the other talent agencies. In the end, only a few of them were lucky enough to be able to continue as an idol. As for the other idols, they’ve decided to quit. They didn’t want the same thing happened to them again.

  Ms. Shoko encouraged them to undergo the therapy to overcome their trauma. At the same time, she also has arranged the operation to remove the microchip implant from their body. They seemed scared of the procedure at first. But after a few consultation sessions with the surgeon, they agreed to do it.

  Mr. Johansson came to see us again when Public Security Bureau was raiding Muse Agency. He was only here to insult us for being incompetent. He also blamed us for Satoru Yuuya’s disappearance. Dad seemed enraged with his remark, but he didn’t feel like messing around with someone like him. Despite feeling angry with his comment, he only ignored him. The last thing he wanted to do was to choke him to death. He was sick of listening to Mr. Johansson’s sarcastic remark about us.

  Before Mr. Johansson continued any further, Hayato was already behind him. He was pointing the sharp tip of the tactical pen close to his neck. “I guess you’ve never learned your lesson, huh?” He said to him, “If you were so competent, you wouldn’t even need us to capture Satoru Yuuya. It showed that even someone like CIA wasn’t capable enough to capture someone like him.” Mr. Johansson never said anything after Hayato threatened him. He left the coffee shop after that.

  Even to this day, the news is still talking about Shinya Fukuyama’s death. For them, they find it hard to believe that someone like him will commit suicide. Despite his crime, people will always remember him. After all, he’s one of the influential figures in the idol industry. This fact will never change no matter what.

  “Touka, I’m so glad to find you here,” Nanase says to me. I look at her when she calls my name. “Why you’re coming here with this getup? Didn’t Mr. Ninomiya tell you not to leave the coffee shop no matter what?” I say to her. Nanase is disguising herself so then no one can recognize her. She’s currently working in the coffee shop for the time being.

  “I come straight from the coffee shop,” she answers, “But, don’t worry. Your dad says that my disguise is good enough. It’s true that some people did say that they seem to recognize me. But Kei already taught me what to say when they ask me that. So, I don’t have to worry going out looking like this.”

  I just look at her direction. “Did dad tell me to go home now?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “No, he even says to take your time. He seems to know what you’re doing even though you never tell him anything. He’s just like Kei.” I sigh after hearing what she says. “So, what are you doing here then?” I ask her again. She only smiles when I ask her that. “I have something to tell you. But I will tell you after offering a silent prayer to Shiori,” she answers.

  She then starts to offer a silent prayer after our conversation is over. She starts talking to me after that. “Touka, do you miss her?” She asks me. I nod without saying anything. Nanase only smiles when she sees my response. “I was also doing the same thing as you do when Sayaka died. I would always go to her grave almost every day. I knew that she was already dead. I couldn’t help but miss her. Even Kei was so worried when he saw my behavior.”

  Nanase continues talking to me. “I don’t know much about Shiori,” she says to me, “But I do und
erstand the feeling of losing a best friend. I also felt the same when Sayaka died. I still miss her even until now, but I’m glad that I’m able to get through this with Kei by my side. I don’t think I can be this strong if it’s not because of him.”

  She then looks at me as she continues. “Touka, you’re lucky because you have your family who will always be there for you. No matter what happen to you, you will always have somebody that you can go to. I know that it’s not easy to cope with the death of someone you love, but please talk to your family. I’m pretty sure that they will listen to you.”

  I smile at Nanase. “Thanks for telling me this. I feel relieved that I’m not the only one who feels this way. I admit that I still feel guilty for not being able to save her. But she did thank me for setting her free in my dream. She even told me to stop blaming myself and live a happy life. Maybe I should stop doing that. Sure, Shiori may no longer be here, but she will always be in my heart. I guess you also feel the same about Ms. Minami too, right?” Nanase nods while smiling at me. After our brief conversation, we leave the graveyard.

  A few months after Shiori’s funeral, both Nanase and Mr. Ninomiya are getting married. We’re now throwing a party at our coffee shop to celebrate this fantastic occasion. “What’s your plan after this?” I ask her. “Well, I already quit being an idol. So, I have no plan to become one again. I know that other agency won’t do nasty things to me, but I just don’t want to. Besides, I already had enough with the idol world. All I want is to have a wonderful life with Kei,” she says to us.

  “I’m okay if she wants to continue,” Mr. Ninomiya says, “But she already decides that she wants to quit. So, I guess I have to respect her decision. But on the flip side, I don’t have to worry about her having a scandal with someone else. There were so many tabloids about her scandals in the past. I know that none of them were true. But I will still feel stressed out if people bombard her with so many scandals.”

  The rest of us laugh at Mr. Ninomiya’s comment. “So, are you planning to move out of Tokyo?” Dad asks him. Mr. Ninomiya sighs. He looks like he hasn’t decided yet where they want to go. “What about you head over to Tochigi? Director Yokoyama has an organic farm there. He’s been pestering me to find someone else to look after the farm,” dad suggests him.

  Nanase seems excited when dad suggests them to move there. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright? I’m worried that you’re not used to living in a rural area,” Mr. Ninomiya says to her. Nanase places her hand on Mr. Ninomiya’s lap and looks straight into his eyes. “It doesn’t matter to me as long as I’m with you. Besides, I think it’s the best place to raise our child too,” she replies. Both Yuuto and I nod at her, agreeing with what she says.

  “Ms. Nanase,” Mr. Sakakibara says to her, “You’re talking about raising a child. Does that mean you’re already pregnant?” Nanase seems embarrassed at first, but she nods her head after that. “I didn’t expect that I would become a mother so soon. I may only be two months pregnant, but it’s still better for us to get married as soon as possible. Otherwise, we can only marry after the baby is born.”

  Everyone just looks at Mr. Ninomiya, with Ms. Shoko clears her throat when she looks at him. “It’s great to hear that you seem fine without a therapy session for sexual abuse, Ms. Nanase. Ninomiya must be the best therapist for you. He can cure you in an instant,” Ms. Shoko says to her. Nanase only laughs at Ms. Shoko’s word. “Well, I still experience anxiety whenever Kei gets close to me. But somehow, Kei makes me feel so safe that the anxiety disappears like magic.”

  Dad and Mr. Sakakibara can’t help but laugh at Mr. Ninomiya. “He must be so good in bed until up to the point that she can recover without therapy. Man, you’re the best,” dad says to him while slapping Mr. Ninomiya’s back. Mr. Ninomiya doesn’t say anything because he’s too embarrassed to argue with dad.

  “This is why I just can’t wait to start a new life. I’m willing to give up my life as an idol just to raise a child. I want this child to experience a life that I never have. So, moving to Tochigi seems like a good idea to me. Besides, the idea of managing a farm sounds fun too,” Nanase says to us. Mr. Ninomiya sighs when he hears Nanase’s answer. “Then, it’s decided already. We’ll be moving to Tochigi then,” he says.

  Mr. Ninomiya and Nanase are heading to Tochigi a few days later. He quits working for Public Security Bureau. He doesn’t want Nanase to worry about him anymore. Just like Nanase, he only wants to live a peaceful life. So, he shouldn’t get involved in anything dangerous. He doesn’t want Nanase and his child to lose him if anything bad happens to him.

  “I’m glad that everything turns out for better,” dad says to us, “But, that doesn’t mean we can slack off. Remember, Satoru Yuuya is on the loose. We can’t let him do whatever he pleases. So, never ever forget our mission.” Everyone nods when he says that to us. I won’t deny that our mission isn’t over. In fact, this is only just the beginning. I’m pretty sure that we will be able to arrest Satoru Yuuya someday.

  Author’s Note

  Thanks for reading my book until the end. I hope you enjoy it. As usual, this book is a work of fiction. But there are some parts of the book which are based on the real thing.

  When it comes to the foundation of mind control, the analysis is based on the actual research related to the monarch programming. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a mind control research derived from CIA’s top secret project, Project MKULTRA. The actual monarch programming still relies on the satanic ritual and abuse to make it work.

  But in Trigger Locked, I omit this part. I just want the mind control device to rely on the technology alone to make it work. In the end, it becomes a mind control device in the form of microchip implant. But the basis of monarch programming is still there, though. At least, now we know how mind control works regardless of what form it takes.

  Another thing that I like to talk about is Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA). I’m not sure if there’s any anime and manga mentioning anything about PSIA. But as far as I know, I have never come across any anime and manga talking about them. It’s common for anime and manga to talk about Self Defense Force (SDF) because it’s widely known to the public.

  But for PSIA, I don’t think I’ve come across any anime and manga talking specifically about them. Are they non-existent? Well, it doesn’t look that way to me when I take a look at Wikipedia. By the way, Wikipedia is the place I discover about PSIA. I’m pretty sure that most countries will have their own intelligence agency. It’s just that we’re only familiar with the famous intelligence agencies such as CIA, Mossad and MI5.

  Even if PSIA page exists on Wikipedia, it’s still hard for me to portray the PSIA officers as accurate as possible. Since there’s not much info about PSIA, I basically have to rely on the articles and books related to CIA. Of course, random Google search about certain things that I don’t know about CIA helps too. I admit that everything that I write here is mostly speculation. But I did try my best to portray the operations officers as accurate as possible.

  This is also same goes to Special Activities Division (SAD). I only know that CIA has this unit. But I’m not sure if PSIA has it too. So, I just create this unit for the sake of this story. As usual, the SAD portrayed in this book is still based on CIA Special Activities Division (SAD). So, I did my best to portray it as accurate as possible. And of course, the context is slightly different just to fit the story, geographic and the culture.

  Since there are so many things I want to talk about this book, feel free to visit my blog. I’ll be explaining more about this book in-depth. I also plan to reveal how the other characters look like on my blog as well. So, please look forward to it.

  Also, I did my best to make sure that the book turns out to be my best work. I admit that I probably made a lot of mistakes that I didn’t realize. So, I’ll be more than happy if you can point out what mistakes I’ve made in terms of spelling or any expression that you find it awkward before you leave negati
ve feedback about my book.

  If you feel like giving me a feedback, just simply send me an email. I will get back to you whenever I have the time. Just don’t expect a fast reply from me, though. But I do appreciate that you take your time to leave comments and feedback for me. Here’s the place where you can send me a feedback directly to me:

  Send me feedback and comment on Trigger Locked: The Mind Control Assassins

  If you think that everything seems okay to you, it’ll be great if you can take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer. Thanks in advance if you have already done that ^^.

  Special Gift Just For You

  First of all, I’d like to say thank you for taking your precious time to read this book. It means a lot to me that you’ve decided to download my book and reading it until the end. As a token of gratitude for finishing reading my book, I’d like to give you an instant access to the prequel to the Trigger Locked series called Trigger Locked: A Triggered Past.

  It’s a novella in PDF version (with Yuuto on the front cover) and this novella won’t be available anywhere else. Not even on my own Wattpad page! Besides A Triggered Past, you will also receive my other novella called Twisted Destiny: The Past.

  Interested to read the prequel and also receive my future releases for FREE? You can visit this page to get started:

  Get Trigger Locked: A Triggered Past here

  About Sekina Mayu

  I’m proudly calling myself Young Adult (YA) indie author. My writings are always inspired by the anime I’ve watched, the manga I’ve read and the video games I’ve played. In other words, I love anime, manga and video games. That’s the reason why my work has anime, manga and video games influence.

  Discover other titles by Sekina Mayu

  The Diary of Modern Cinderella

  Twisted Destiny

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