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Mostly proofed. Might miss some.
Title: Atonement
Chapter: 7 - Hide and Seek
Characters: Tanaka Ainosuke, Tanaka Yumehito and mostly everyone still alive
Fandom: Hidarime Tantei EYE
Rating: G
Summary: AU. The new life they had did not seem so bad. Yumehito had mostly recovered his health and living as a totally new person. It was something that Ainosuke had always dreamed of. But a new case that was reminiscent of their painful past threatened to destroy the small piece of life they had. Could this be... an atonement?
----------
Everyone hurriedly gathered around in the meeting room as Detective Ishikawa made his greeting. It seemed to be urgent at the sound of the tone used, Yumehito had thought. And indeed it was, because Kamata-san had suddenly went missing from the hospital. Every officer in the room was immediately assigned their tasks as everyone scrambled to their jobs.
There was high chance that Kamata would try to off himself inconspicuously, in order to gain a huge sum of money from his life insurance—they had already confirmed that Kamata had one in his name. Still... the amount that he could get from that, it was doubtfully that it could give him enough money for the ransom. Yet, they could not dismiss the notion as desperate people would resort to desperate solution. Thus, several officers had been assigned towards every possible train stations or other places that people were likely go attempting suicides.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group were assigned to search around the places that Kamata had often go, as well as acquaintances. He and Kato were assigned to this other group as they went to the hospital room that Kamata used to stay.
"What do you think we could find here still?"
Yume shrugged as both of them searched every corner of the room.
"I'm not sure. Yesterday I had an idea... and I thought to want to confirm it with Kamata."
Kato glanced up from behind a cabinet as he frowned.
"About what?"
"You know... the other day when you mentioned about Kamata having some problems..."
Kato's eyes widened.
"You don't think... all of this was actually Kamata's doing? That it was all a trick?"
Yume shook his head.
"No. If it was... he wouldn't try killing himself to get the insurance money. Besides... the money would be insufficient anyway—"
"But we've checked around. Even though Kamata had that problem weighing on him, he was not involved with any loan-sharks that we've identified. And I've looked into it. Despite the crisis that they were facing now, because Kamata had been a pleasant employee at his workplace; his employer and colleagues had managed to help out in lessening the burden. There was nothing that indicated Kamata having any debt or anything that would require that amount of money. In that situation, it would be strange to think Kamata would try doing something like this—"
"Kato-san," Yume suddenly stopped him. The man glanced towards him. "Have you checked as to why Kamata had some serious monetary problem at the beginning?"
Kato frowned.
"Was that important?"
He shrugged.
"Could be. It was the reason I had wanted to talk to him today—"
He had been checking the cabinets as something fell out from it. Yume frowned as he picked up the small piece of paper.
"I think we've finally found the reason why Kamata had hastily left this place."
Kato immediately rushed to his side as he tried to read the content of the note.
"This is no time to sit idle. Don't you worry about your kids?"
Alongside the note was a picture, it was of two young boys. It should have been the picture of Kamata Ryuji (17 years old) and Kamata Shun (8 years old). Yume turned the picture around as a handwritten sentence was written there.
"Don't drag along the police anymore. If there were more of them snooping around, they'll die."
Kato frowned.
"The kidnappers came here! I'll go ask if there's any log of people coming who could have sent that note—"
"It's useless. If they were careful enough, you won't find any."
"Then what?"
"My guess earlier might be correct after all. At least one of the kidnappers might be close with the family..."
Kato frowned again.
"Eh? What made you think so?"
Yume started pointing back towards the note as he tapped on some of the words written.
"Over here... and this line here, the tone used was slightly informal. The way you would talk with someone you're familiar with. It did not read as someone who was a stranger. And this part here mentioning the kids, it felt more that the writer was actually concerned about the situation. Made me think that it was someone close."
"Then... you think that a family member or a friend might be involved?"
He nodded as he gave the note and picture to Kato.
"But I still think there was a danger to the kids. The one that was written at the back of the picture, I don't think that threat was an idle one. The handwriting was rougher than the one on the note, we might be able to guess what kind of person he was. But most likely this second person was someone who was used to doing bad deeds..."
"You mean?"
Yume gestured towards the picture.
"The older brother looked shaken but it seemed he was staring at another direction from the camera, like towards another person—as if he was trying to say something. But the little one, he had been staring straight at the camera in fear. There must be a reason for that."
"So... the culprit most likely be two people?"
Yume nodded.
"How can you be so sure? Just because the little kid was a bit scared, doesn't mean that—"
"Ainosuke used to be like that."
"Eh?"
Yume shrugged at his partner.
"Last time... Ainosuke used to be very afraid of Ikeuchi Kazuya. The younger brother was not much. Even after the man had went out, Ainosuke would keep on crying because he was so scared of that person. So much... that it even annoyed Ikeuchi Tomoya."
He bit his lips sourly at the memory.
"Despite that, Ainosuke had never left his eyes from those men when they were watching us. No matter how scared he had been, he kept staring at them. Even when I tried to get him to look at me... just so I could at least ease his fears, Ainosuke had never stopped staring at them. Either he was so stunned to the point he couldn't move or he was just afraid to look away, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't say that every kid would behave like that but—"
"I get it."
Yume turned towards him as Kato shrugged.
"You're worried, I can see that. But you also looked slightly relieved?"
The man smiled.
"Ainosuke used to be around that age as well when it happened, so I can relate."
He frowned at Kato's other statement.
"Relieved? Nah... somehow I just feel that we somehow got closer to the case. We appear to have a hint that at least one of the kidnappers were someone close to the family—seeing that the kidnappers knew a lot about them—so we might be able to hope that the kids would be safe for a bit longer. The hint might just be with Kamata."
Kato grinned as he noticed his partner had cheered a bit. He slapped his shoulder before ushering him out to continue on their investigation. Yumehito joined him, leaving the room behind him.
Before stepping out of the room, he sighed.
At least this part of the plot was different. Perhaps he could hope that the outcome of this case would be different as well. For sure, he wouldn't want to see a replay of his own life before him. There was no need for another Tanaka Yumehito to be born...
xxx
Sometime later, at Kisaragi Junior High School...
"Ainosuke... Wait up! Where are you going?"
Ainosuke turned around as Masaki walked up towards him. He shrugged.
"I'm heading to the staff room. I had to pass something to Kitaoka-sensei—"
"Ainosuke..."
Ainosuke cocked his head towards his friend, puzzled by the tone he used.
"If you had some kind of problem..."
"—Masaki, I've told you yesterday... there's nothing—"
"Don't lie. Ainosuke... you've helped me in the past when I got in trouble so at least this time, please let me help you in return. I know I cannot help much... if it's about money—"
"N-no!" Ainosuke started waving his hands at him as he tried to explain. "It's was nothing like tha—"
Suddenly Ainosuke swayed as his head started to feel a bit dizzy. Before Masaki could grab for his arm, Ainosuke staggered behind him as he fell from the flight of stairs behind him. Masaki cried out before going after him hurriedly as Ainosuke's head hit the railings with a loud thud. He hastily helped his friend out as he asked him worriedly.
"Ainosuke, are you all right?"
"I'm okay..." he started to say but Masaki didn't believed it as Ainosuke's face was very pale.
"I better take you to see Sayama-sensei—" Masaki started to say before Ainosuke grabbed him suddenly. His friend was really looking distraught.
"Brother... my brother was in danger!"
Title: Atonement
Chapter: 7 - Hide and Seek
Characters: Tanaka Ainosuke, Tanaka Yumehito and mostly everyone still alive
Fandom: Hidarime Tantei EYE
Rating: G
Summary: AU. The new life they had did not seem so bad. Yumehito had mostly recovered his health and living as a totally new person. It was something that Ainosuke had always dreamed of. But a new case that was reminiscent of their painful past threatened to destroy the small piece of life they had. Could this be... an atonement?
----------
Everyone hurriedly gathered around in the meeting room as Detective Ishikawa made his greeting. It seemed to be urgent at the sound of the tone used, Yumehito had thought. And indeed it was, because Kamata-san had suddenly went missing from the hospital. Every officer in the room was immediately assigned their tasks as everyone scrambled to their jobs.
There was high chance that Kamata would try to off himself inconspicuously, in order to gain a huge sum of money from his life insurance—they had already confirmed that Kamata had one in his name. Still... the amount that he could get from that, it was doubtfully that it could give him enough money for the ransom. Yet, they could not dismiss the notion as desperate people would resort to desperate solution. Thus, several officers had been assigned towards every possible train stations or other places that people were likely go attempting suicides.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group were assigned to search around the places that Kamata had often go, as well as acquaintances. He and Kato were assigned to this other group as they went to the hospital room that Kamata used to stay.
"What do you think we could find here still?"
Yume shrugged as both of them searched every corner of the room.
"I'm not sure. Yesterday I had an idea... and I thought to want to confirm it with Kamata."
Kato glanced up from behind a cabinet as he frowned.
"About what?"
"You know... the other day when you mentioned about Kamata having some problems..."
Kato's eyes widened.
"You don't think... all of this was actually Kamata's doing? That it was all a trick?"
Yume shook his head.
"No. If it was... he wouldn't try killing himself to get the insurance money. Besides... the money would be insufficient anyway—"
"But we've checked around. Even though Kamata had that problem weighing on him, he was not involved with any loan-sharks that we've identified. And I've looked into it. Despite the crisis that they were facing now, because Kamata had been a pleasant employee at his workplace; his employer and colleagues had managed to help out in lessening the burden. There was nothing that indicated Kamata having any debt or anything that would require that amount of money. In that situation, it would be strange to think Kamata would try doing something like this—"
"Kato-san," Yume suddenly stopped him. The man glanced towards him. "Have you checked as to why Kamata had some serious monetary problem at the beginning?"
Kato frowned.
"Was that important?"
He shrugged.
"Could be. It was the reason I had wanted to talk to him today—"
He had been checking the cabinets as something fell out from it. Yume frowned as he picked up the small piece of paper.
"I think we've finally found the reason why Kamata had hastily left this place."
Kato immediately rushed to his side as he tried to read the content of the note.
"This is no time to sit idle. Don't you worry about your kids?"
Alongside the note was a picture, it was of two young boys. It should have been the picture of Kamata Ryuji (17 years old) and Kamata Shun (8 years old). Yume turned the picture around as a handwritten sentence was written there.
"Don't drag along the police anymore. If there were more of them snooping around, they'll die."
Kato frowned.
"The kidnappers came here! I'll go ask if there's any log of people coming who could have sent that note—"
"It's useless. If they were careful enough, you won't find any."
"Then what?"
"My guess earlier might be correct after all. At least one of the kidnappers might be close with the family..."
Kato frowned again.
"Eh? What made you think so?"
Yume started pointing back towards the note as he tapped on some of the words written.
"Over here... and this line here, the tone used was slightly informal. The way you would talk with someone you're familiar with. It did not read as someone who was a stranger. And this part here mentioning the kids, it felt more that the writer was actually concerned about the situation. Made me think that it was someone close."
"Then... you think that a family member or a friend might be involved?"
He nodded as he gave the note and picture to Kato.
"But I still think there was a danger to the kids. The one that was written at the back of the picture, I don't think that threat was an idle one. The handwriting was rougher than the one on the note, we might be able to guess what kind of person he was. But most likely this second person was someone who was used to doing bad deeds..."
"You mean?"
Yume gestured towards the picture.
"The older brother looked shaken but it seemed he was staring at another direction from the camera, like towards another person—as if he was trying to say something. But the little one, he had been staring straight at the camera in fear. There must be a reason for that."
"So... the culprit most likely be two people?"
Yume nodded.
"How can you be so sure? Just because the little kid was a bit scared, doesn't mean that—"
"Ainosuke used to be like that."
"Eh?"
Yume shrugged at his partner.
"Last time... Ainosuke used to be very afraid of Ikeuchi Kazuya. The younger brother was not much. Even after the man had went out, Ainosuke would keep on crying because he was so scared of that person. So much... that it even annoyed Ikeuchi Tomoya."
He bit his lips sourly at the memory.
"Despite that, Ainosuke had never left his eyes from those men when they were watching us. No matter how scared he had been, he kept staring at them. Even when I tried to get him to look at me... just so I could at least ease his fears, Ainosuke had never stopped staring at them. Either he was so stunned to the point he couldn't move or he was just afraid to look away, I'm not sure about that. I wouldn't say that every kid would behave like that but—"
"I get it."
Yume turned towards him as Kato shrugged.
"You're worried, I can see that. But you also looked slightly relieved?"
The man smiled.
"Ainosuke used to be around that age as well when it happened, so I can relate."
He frowned at Kato's other statement.
"Relieved? Nah... somehow I just feel that we somehow got closer to the case. We appear to have a hint that at least one of the kidnappers were someone close to the family—seeing that the kidnappers knew a lot about them—so we might be able to hope that the kids would be safe for a bit longer. The hint might just be with Kamata."
Kato grinned as he noticed his partner had cheered a bit. He slapped his shoulder before ushering him out to continue on their investigation. Yumehito joined him, leaving the room behind him.
Before stepping out of the room, he sighed.
At least this part of the plot was different. Perhaps he could hope that the outcome of this case would be different as well. For sure, he wouldn't want to see a replay of his own life before him. There was no need for another Tanaka Yumehito to be born...
xxx
Sometime later, at Kisaragi Junior High School...
"Ainosuke... Wait up! Where are you going?"
Ainosuke turned around as Masaki walked up towards him. He shrugged.
"I'm heading to the staff room. I had to pass something to Kitaoka-sensei—"
"Ainosuke..."
Ainosuke cocked his head towards his friend, puzzled by the tone he used.
"If you had some kind of problem..."
"—Masaki, I've told you yesterday... there's nothing—"
"Don't lie. Ainosuke... you've helped me in the past when I got in trouble so at least this time, please let me help you in return. I know I cannot help much... if it's about money—"
"N-no!" Ainosuke started waving his hands at him as he tried to explain. "It's was nothing like tha—"
Suddenly Ainosuke swayed as his head started to feel a bit dizzy. Before Masaki could grab for his arm, Ainosuke staggered behind him as he fell from the flight of stairs behind him. Masaki cried out before going after him hurriedly as Ainosuke's head hit the railings with a loud thud. He hastily helped his friend out as he asked him worriedly.
"Ainosuke, are you all right?"
"I'm okay..." he started to say but Masaki didn't believed it as Ainosuke's face was very pale.
"I better take you to see Sayama-sensei—" Masaki started to say before Ainosuke grabbed him suddenly. His friend was really looking distraught.
"Brother... my brother was in danger!"
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