Chapter 53: Kids, Don't Go Copying Self-Destruction
Aqua exuded a gloomy aura. Though bathed in the radiance of the sunrise, he looked like a ghost crawling out of hell. His brilliant blond hair seemed to lose its color, its outlines blurring as his entire presence shifted toward a dark, oil-painting aesthetic.
The black star in his right eye grew massive, its edges seemingly wider than the socket itself, looking utterly sinister.
"The bastard who laid a hand on Mama..."
"I will drag him out and kill him with my own hands!"
Hikaru Hoshino was almost tempted to laugh out of sheer exasperation. *A tiny toddler, talking about killing all day—how ridiculous!* Just as he was preparing to lecture the brat, the black star in Aqua's eye suddenly spun and vanished.
*Eh?* Hikaru was confused. He hadn't even spoken yet; what happened?
*Can those black stars just disappear on their own?*
Or perhaps they didn't disappear, but simply transferred.
Thoughtfully, Hikaru turned toward the rooftop door. Sure enough, at some unknown point, the door had been pushed open just a crack.
"You heard everything?" Hikaru said, feeling a headache coming on.
Aqua also looked up in shock, staring toward the door.
With a *creak*, the door was pushed open by a pair of small hands.
Ruby Hoshino appeared from behind the door, radiating a murderous aura of her own.
Her golden, shoulder-length hair and cute face—her magnificent eyes were like natural rubies, possessing the same magnetic pull as Ai's.
Two black hexagonal stars were neatly positioned in both of her eyes. Her eerie appearance even reminded Hikaru of that God of Entertainment surrounded by crows.
But since he could even tease that bratty Goddess, he certainly wasn't going to be intimidated by Ruby's "all bark, no bite" intensity. Regardless of whether they were protagonists or favored by the gods, in Hikaru's eyes, the twins were still just children.
When an adult was present, there was absolutely no reason for children to shoulder the burden.
"You heard everything?" Hikaru repeated.
"Yes." Quite unlike her usual carefree self, the current Ruby sounded like an emotionless machine. "Shin'ichiro Ishigami is the mastermind behind everything, right? I'll handle him myself!"
"One after another..." Hikaru rubbed the bridge of his nose with the knuckle of his thumb, looking like a disappointed mentor.
He sighed and pulled his colored contacts out of his pocket to put them back in; he couldn't let himself be out-staged by two four-year-olds.
"And how exactly do you plan to 'handle' Shin'ichiro Ishigami? Big words are easy, but in reality, aren't you completely helpless?"
"Never mind that you can't find his location. Even if you could, what can two four-year-olds do? To be blunt, you charging in now is no different from hand-delivering a kill to the enemy." Hikaru actually laughed as he spoke. "Don't just talk big; empty boasts are useless. Give me an actual plan."
Aqua lowered his head in deep thought, muttering to himself: "Call the police... no, we can't let them get involved. Then, as I thought, I have to charge in and self-destruct—a life for a life. But with this current body, that might be difficult. Is the movie route viable? Exposing his true face to society and letting the world judge him..."
"That won't work at all." Aqua looked dejected. "Public opinion attacks mean nothing to a murderer, and it would also expose Mama's secret."
Ruby also tried to think, but her underdeveloped little brain clearly couldn't come up with any useful tactics.
"I just want him dead!"
Unable to find a solution, Ruby spoke viciously, the black stars in her eyes gradually fading.
"See..." Hikaru spread his hands. "I ask you for a plan and you've got nothing but self-destruction on the brain. Did it ever occur to you that while Shin'ichiro Ishigami has no one who cares about him, *you* do?"
"He's just a lonely, miserable worm that nobody cares about. To develop a personality like that, he probably had a pathetic, motherless childhood. Wandering the city, living day to day, homeless and tattered, fighting with vagrants and stray dogs for scraps. Picking up discarded cigarette butts from the street and drinking leftover soda from internet cafes, only to find the bottle is empty."
"Is the life of a person like that really worth trading your bright futures for?"
Hikaru criticized them sternly: "Stop joking around! Even if you don't care about yourselves, think about the people who love you! Most importantly, think about Ai's feelings!"
Ai was alive and well, yet they were already thinking about "life-for-a-life" trades. It was disgraceful.
*What high-tier aggression!* Aqua felt ashamed. Even though Hikaru was talking about Ishigami, he felt like he was being cursed out to his face, like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him.
But the effect was remarkable. Aqua and Ruby were suddenly struck by a realization.
—*Our bodies are gifts from our parents; how dare we damage them so recklessly?*
They were Ai's children now. If they didn't protect themselves and forced Ai to bury her own golden-haired children, leaving her to weep for the rest of her days, that would be a true sin.
Ruby was still a bit defiant. "Then what's your plan? Aren't you just as powerless?"
Hikaru popped the contacts back out and carefully tucked them into his pocket. "There's a lot I can do."
He gave the twins a strange look. "How dare you lump me in with you."
"Ishigami's life is currently like a candle in the wind. Once I catch where he is, there won't be a happy ending for him."
"This is reality, not a Sherlock Holmes film set. Ishigami isn't some 250-IQ genius killer, and we aren't a team of police and detectives. Just as all corporate wars eventually return to the simple act of cutting the internet cables, what I'm going to do is also very simple."
Hikaru gazed at the distant mountains, a hint of fire in his tone.
"Find Ishigami, and then kill him."
Ruby curled her lip. "Isn't that the same as us?"
"You're aiming for self-destruction, which leaves you with a bad ending."
"I'm different." Hikaru spoke with pride. "I'm aiming for the perfect crime!"
"Kill him, dump the body in the deep mountains, just like Ryosuke did. The Miyazaki police can't solve those kinds of body-dumping cases. Besides, even if they actually did find something, I have the means to suppress it."
"If it goes public, of course, it's game over. But as long as there aren't many insiders, everyone has a price. A new company like Xini might not be 'underground,' but old-money zaibatsus like the Shinomiya or Shijo families throw people into the ocean every year."
Aqua looked astonished, as if a door to a new world had opened.
He had always known Japan was a society based on connections, but he hadn't realized how much weight those connections carried. Massive capital could actually hijack the gears of the law—it was unheard of. It was a dark social reality, yet when he found himself as the beneficiary, he surprisingly didn't mind it.
Ruby had calmed down, though tiny black stars still flickered deep in her eyes. Aqua keenly noticed that Ruby still harbored a very deep-seated hatred, but he couldn't understand where it came from.
Logically, she shouldn't even know Ryosuke had attempted to assassinate Ai. It couldn't be because Ryosuke killed Goro Amamiya, could it? That was too far-fetched.
*It must be because of yesterday's incident. That bandaged stalker looked even more vicious than Ryosuke; he probably scared her half to death.*
Aqua gradually convinced himself and nodded sagely.
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