I was momentarily unable to answer the question Akane-san had just thrown at me. That's because...
"Haha... 'Have you ever killed a person?'... That's quite a bold and rude question... Akane-san."
"Ugh... ah... a-no... that..."
Perhaps my expression was too terrifying; Akane-san couldn't say another word. She just trembled, barely managing to grip Aqua's arm next to her.
"Phew... I'm sorry. It's a pretty sensitive question, so I suppose I got a bit defensive."
"N-no... it's not... I... I asked such a rude question..."
"No, no. If anyone else had asked, it certainly would have been rude. But if it's Akane-san talking, then that changes things..."
"Eh?"
To be honest, I hadn't ruled out this possibility. Given Akane-san's profiling skills, I thought she might be able to read not just Ai's thoughts, but mine as well.
But... hearing her ask so bluntly, her sheer audacity actually made me like her even more.
The only person in the family who knew I worked in the shadows was Ai.
Since Ai and I promised to have no secrets and never lie to each other, I tended to report everything to her, except for the details regarding Aqua's situation and my past life.
Of course, I wasn't the only one surprised. Ai stared at Akane-san with startled eyes.
Aqua looked at me with a face full of horror, but after seeing Ai's and my expressions, he simply nodded as if he had finally figured it out.
"Ahahahahahaha!! Wow... as expected, my eyes didn't deceive me. Akane-san... oh, it's alright if I call you Akane-san comfortably, right?"
"Y-yes!!"
"Well then... to answer your question... my answer is YES."
"......Yume.."
"Yume....."
Ai grabbed my arm and looked at me with tears in her eyes. Aqua also looked at me with concerned eyes, calling me 'Yume'—not as a father figure, but as a brother.
Yes, that was enough for me. Just knowing there are people who worry about me gives me all the strength I need.
That alone is plenty.
"Ahem... well, I know what you two are worried about... but even if I look like this, our company is by no means small... No, to be honest, as long as you're in Japan, no one can escape our company's reach.
And our company's main business is security... and perhaps a bit of assassination?"
"A-Assassination!?"
Akane-san spoke in shock at my words, but I calmed her down.
"Well, even if I call it assassination, it's only performed against criminals, so the Japanese government actually receives a fair bit of help from us.
Though we're usually the ones blocking most of the information.
I mean, even if they are criminals, they're still people, so it must be awkward for the Japanese government... but what can they do? No one has any way to win against us."
What I said was, naturally, the truth. Physically speaking, either me or my senior would be enough to handle any suppression. And if someone tried to suppress us from the shadows, there were other seniors available.
And online, naturally, another brother of the same caliber as me or my senior would be more than enough.
"E-eh!? Yume was actually such an incredible person!?"
"Of course. If I set my mind to it, I could even have Japan however I want, you know?"
Physically speaking, it was possible.
"No way!?"
"Why does it sound like the truth when Yume says it?"
"No... looking at Aqua-senpai's face, he's serious..."
"Ahahahahahaha!!"
I felt relieved as the dark atmosphere from before seemed to lift somewhat.
"Well then, I should wrap up the answer to Akane-san's question..."
"Y-yes?"
"I'll answer like this: to protect 'our' family, I can do 'that sort' of thing very easily."
".......I... see.."
Akane-san, Ai, and Aqua all seemed to understand the weight of my words, as their expressions stiffened again.
"Well, basically, our company has a laissez-faire policy. Most of the fools who go out of their way to pick a fight with us end up just being intimidated and that's it. And it's very rare for things to reach me or my senior.
Even if I look like this, I'm a top executive of the company. Jobs meant for us are directed to us from the start.
Anything else is usually handled at the level of other executives."
I decided to leave after saying that. Staying any longer would just interfere with the two's date...
I looked at Ai, who was hugging my arm tightly.
I needed to explain things to Ai as well.
"Well then, we'll be heading out first. Have a safe date, both of you."
"....Yes."
"Yeah."
I took care of Ai and returned to the car. I didn't start the engine immediately, but just looked at Ai sitting beside me.
"Are you disappointed, Ai?"
"............."
"Because that girl figured out something even you didn't know?"
"...........Yes."
"Hehe.... I told you. That girl's talent is the real deal. It was just some light profiling, but she gathered that much information about you and me."
"...Then did you know it would turn out like this?"
"Well..... I expected it to some extent, but I didn't think she would actually uncover that much."
"Then!!"
"....!?"
"Then... how many..... how many have you killed so far....? Is it because of me? Because I had Aqua and Ruby? Because I jumped on Yume while you were sleeping!? Or is it because... mph!?"
I didn't want to see Ai crying and screaming anymore, so I kissed her lips just like that...
"Pwah... Yume..."
Eventually, Ai's tears burst out, and she began to sob. I held her gently and said,
"It's okay. The things you're worried about will never happen, Ai. So there's no need for you to suffer. This truth is my 'ugly reality' that I wanted to keep hidden."
Yes, it's just one of the 'ugly truths' that girl mentioned back then.... Can I really not hide it from you anymore?
"Waaaaaaaah~!! Yume, you're an idiot!!!!!!!"
"Yes, yes.... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being stupid."
"I didn't say it that far!! Yume, just shut up and hug Ai!!"
"Ah, yes ma'am."
In the end, I held Ai for nearly an hour inside the car.
"Sniff!"
"Feeling a bit better now, Ai?"
When Ai finally stopped crying and pulled away from my embrace, I started driving. Seeing her still sniffing, I asked how she felt.
"No, I'm not better. I'm not letting Yume sleep tonight."
".......You haven't forgotten that we have an important schedule tomorrow, have you?"
Tomorrow, there was a meeting with the staff for Ai's and my roles in Tokyo Blade.
Of course, for me, who remembered the original work to some extent, Ai and I didn't have roles.
So, the conclusion I reached was to create new roles for Ai and myself.
I proposed roles that seemed unimportant but were actually crucial, and I even received permission from the author of Tokyo Blade. We had to go to a meeting regarding that.
Ai's and my roles in this were simple.
There are roles where the sacrifice of surrounding characters is necessary for the protagonist to grow stronger.
But the role Aqua took was vague—it was hard to say he was the protagonist, but also hard to say he wasn't.
So Ai and I... will take the roles of Touki's—Aqua's—parents.
And... I plan to finish the roles by being killed in front of Touki while protecting Touki and Sayahime.
I can no longer tell how the situation I knew has changed.
If that's the case, I have no choice but to utilize the information I have to its fullest. Because I want Aqua to grow even more through this opportunity.
Since this world line.... is one where Ai doesn't die and we live together.
If it has changed, then I just have to create the changed story myself.
So.... please don't hate this father too much, Aqua.
And in the end, I was squeezed thoroughly by Ai that night.