Feels like it's been forever since I posted a chapter. I didn't think I would ever get around to it but I have. The conclusion to the whole Molmol-explosives saga will be a two parter, this is the first half and the next chapter will conclude it.
Chapter 12
Superintendent Hisashi stared down Makoto as the young detective briefed his supervisor on everything that had happened.
"This has really turned into quite a mess. Molmol is up in arms over having their princess arrested." Hisashi sighed.
"This turned out to be so much more than just sorting out a protection order." Makoto mumbled.
"Nonetheless you were the first officer on the scene and you have been given point on this incident. I want you to handle this with the upmost care. This could turn into an international incident." Hisashi warned.
"I think it already has. They were sending explosions across Japan." Makoto stated. "That's weapons smuggling."
"Our guys looked into that. Only the packaging is from Molmol, the explosives were purchased by advisors of the royal family staying in Japan and then shipped to Koalla Su. Nothing technically crossed the border." Hisashi explained.
"Those are the guys being questioned by the State Department." Makoto realized.
"Get to the interrogation room and question everyone else from the house. Save Keitaro Urashima and Koalla Su for last. Make them stew a little." Hiashi advised.
"Are you sure this is okay?" Makoto asked.
"What do you mean?" Hiashi responded.
"I was originally involved with the Urashima family and now this. Thinking about it, I can't take point on this matter." Makoto explained.
"Okay, I understand what you're saying. For now handle interviews with that girl from the minor's bureau while I sort out who will take point." Hiashi replied.
XXXXX
To interview the residents of the Hinata House, Makoto and Mai were currently using the officer's lounge. Due to the international implications of the case, the Minors Bureau and the police were conducting the interviews together.
Naru was the first to be called into the interview room. She sat annoyed looking across at Makoto and Mai.
"You're not a cop." Naru pointed out looking at Mai.
"You're right. I'm a social worker for the Minors Bureau. The safety of children in this country is my main concern." Mai replied.
"So you want to ask me questions about Su?" Naru caught on.
"Naru Narusegawa, I'm Detective Makoto. I'm just going to ask you some questions about life at the Hinata House. Just for clarification sake, this is not an interrogation." Makoto explained.
"Fine, I understand. Can we please get this over with?" Naru muttered.
"What can you tell us about your landlord Keitaro?" Mai asked.
"He is a no good pervert." Naru cursed.
"A pervert…" Makoto mumbled as he made a note.
"When you say pervert, what do you mean?" Mai asked worried.
"He says it's all coincidences and bad luck but somehow he always seems to walk in on us changing, fall on us, view up our skirts, walk in on us bathing in the onsen, and grope us." Naru explained with a miff.
"Mai, you take over questioning Naru. I need to go amend the charges and get Special Victims." Makoto whispered.
It was soft but Naru heard it.
"Amend the charges to what?" Naru asked worried.
"To include everything you just told us." Makoto replied.
"Wait don't, I wasn't thinking when I said that." Naru quickly changed her tune.
"Naru, it's okay. We have counselors who you can talk to about this kind of thing. If he forced you…" Mai tried to talk but was cut off by Naru.
"Keitaro never did anything like that. He would never do anything like that." Naru confessed.
"Then why did you say all those things. Did you make them up?" Makoto asked.
"No, those things do happen but I do actually think that Keitaro is just a clumsy idiot." Naru admitted.
"You were saying something different before." Mai noted.
"I know, I said it because I was angry with Keitaro. He really is an idiot." Naru cursed.
"But he is not a sexual predator." Makoto tried to confirm.
"No he isn't." Naru replied.
"What is he really like?" Mai asked.
Naru sighed. "Keitaro is a clumsy idiot but he is a kindhearted idiot. Too trusting and easy to manipulate if going by Kitsune's actions prove anything."
"So do you know anything about Kaolla Su's inventions and there relation to the explosives we found?" Makoto questioned.
"Su has been building things from the time she arrived at the house. They didn't really start blowing up until Keitaro came." Naru replied.
"So once Keitaro became your dorm manager he acquired the explosives for Su." Mai asked.
"I don't know about that. I just know he would sign for Su's packages and she did get a lot of them." Naru revealed.
"Did Keitaro ever open any of the packages to examine the contents?" Makoto asked.
"I don't know. How should I know?" Naru scoffed.
"You're right about that, we shouldn't expect you to have all the answers for us." Mai smiled.
"Did Hinata Urashima ever sign for Koalla Su's packages?" Makoto asked.
"I can't remember granny ever signing for them but I do know Su used to get them when granny was around too." Naru tried to recall.
XXXXX
The interview room was large enough for three individuals to sit comfortably; the dimensions were roughly 8' x 10'. The walls and ceiling were well insulated which was evident by the dampened outside noises. The door was made of a solid wood. The room had no windows to the outside or interior glass panes. The walls were painted a light pastel white, reflecting an office-like appearance.
The room contained four pieces of furniture: a writing desk and three chairs. One chair was at the desk while the other two were set across from each. On the ceiling there was a camera that was positioned to view the perp's entire body, from head to toe.
Kitsune sat in the interrogation room petrified; it looked as if her past had finally caught up with her.
"Mitsune Konno, or should I call you Ayase, Cindy, Aika, Akio, Oe, Lucy." Makoto asked as he sat down across from Kitsune.
"I don't know those names!" Kitsune denied.
"The men you scammed using those names would beg to differ. You have quite a record; I'm surprised that you actually managed to flirt your way out of trouble every time." Makoto scoffed.
"I'm not saying another word till I get a lawyer." Kitsune refused to speak.
"Oh, you don't have to speak. I'm not going to question you, I'm just going to state all the information we have on you and let you draw a conclusion." Makoto replied.
"Wait, I thought we were here about the whole Su thing. When did this become about me?" Kitsune demanded to know.
"When you were brought in, one of our officers recognized you. It was a lucky break actually." Makoto sighed. "This whole Molmol issue is really troublesome and stressing me out. I caught a lucky break with you, a slam dunk case."
"I think you're getting a head of yourself here. You don't have to worry about little old me; you have bigger things to worry about like Su and all her doomsday devices." Kitsune tried to distract the detective.
"Really, you're going to try and sidetrack me by saying doomsday device. Did you think I would leap from my seat at hearing that?" Makoto yawned.
"You're a cop and I'm telling you something very important, you should take it more seriously." Kitsune demanded.
"I would take it more seriously if I hadn't already spoken to the other girls. You see, you're the only one who said doomsday device, everyone else called them dangerous toys. They also told me you have a tendency to bend the truth to make the situation favorable to yourself." Makoto explained.
"Okay fine, I'll do whatever you want." Kitsune gritted her teeth.
"I don't want anything." Makoto replied.
"Are you sure?" Kitsune winked seductively. "It must be tough being a police officer, spending all your time chasing down bad guys to make our streets safer. You probably don't have time to find a woman to satisfy you."
"I'm pretty surprised you'd actually try that with a camera there." Makoto pointed out leaving Kitsune red faced.
"Your loss." Kitsune sneered.
"Oh and my friend from the tax department would like to see you next, apparently you haven't done your taxes in a timely manner for a number of years now." Makoto warned.
"Wait, I'll tell you anything you want to know. You want to know about Keitaro and Su. I know everything about them. I know what kind of dirty magazines Keitaro buys, I know how many times a day Su experiments with her toys. I know everything." Kitsune revealed.
"The problem with a habitual liar saying they know everything is that it is often not reliable." Makoto pointed out.
"I know how Su get's the explosives and parts for her inventions. I can even get you an address for the person who supplies her." Kitsune shouted.
"I assume this information would cost me." Makoto replied.
"You bet." Kitsune spoke.
"We'll wait for your lawyer before we talk about any kind of deal." Makoto responded.
XXXXX
Kanako walked towards her home after splitting up with her friends. She was tired after an exhausting day of school. The school festival was coming up and she ended up volunteering to help out with almost everything she could. The hard work didn't bother her as long as it meant spending time with her friends.
"Are you Kanako?" A blonde girl called out as she grabbed Kanako's shoulder.
"Yes and you are?" Kanako asked tentatively.
"I'm Saki Asai; I'm a friend of your cousin Yamato." The blonde replied.
"Oh, I'm sorry but I can't remember you." Kanako replied.
"No, we haven't met before. I was actually looking for you." Saki revealed.
"Really, why would you be looking for me?" Kanako questioned.
"I actually want to talk to you about something important. How about we go somewhere more private for this conversation?" Saki suggested.
"I'm sorry but I can't. I have to go home right now." Kanako turned around.
"It'll only take a few minutes and this is really important." Saki ran in front of Kanako.
"I'm sorry but I need to go. It's almost time for the afternoon rush at my family's bakery. They are going to need me to help them out." Kanako explained as she side stepped.
"Come on, your parents can manage without you. You're a young girl in her prime; you shouldn't be stuck in some bakery." Saki said blocking Kanako's path again.
"This isn't just some bakery, now I won't ask again. Let me pass." Kanako demanded.
"I'm sorry but I won't let you go until you hear what I have to say." Saki refused.
Kanako wanted to raise her arm to strike Saki but couldn't summon the strength. She had been lifting too much weight while helping out in preparing for the festival. She was trying to be too helpful and ended up wearing out her arms. Her legs were well enough to kick Saki into next week but another fear kept her from striking. She was scared she might hurt the annoying blonde too badly and get in trouble.
"Your grandmother really misses you." Saki blurted out.
"What did you say?" Kanako inquired surprised.
"Your grandmother Hina sent me to talk to you. She told me everything." Saki confessed.
"You don't' know anything, get away from me." Kanako retorted.
"Hina told me everything I needed to know. She told me how she wants to spend time with you and take you with her around the world on a once in a lifetime journey. I think every kid would kill for a chance like that. She told me how your parents disagreed and cut her out of your life and forced you into staying away from her. She told me how your mom got a restraining order against her." Saki revealed.
"Exactly, you shouldn't be talking to me. You should leave." Kanako warned.
"No, it's alright. The restraining order says your granny can't see you. I'm not in it." Saki said blissfully ignorant.
"You're an idiot aren't you?" Kanako retorted.
"Hina warned me that you'd be like this. She said that your mother was filling your mind with poison." Saki said.
"That's it. Leave me alone or else." Kanako warned.
"Stop being so selfish, your grandmother needs you and I need Yamato." Saki shouted.
"What the hell are you talking about lady?" Kanako backed up.
"You have to go with your grandmother so you can learn how to run an Inn and fulfill your promise of running the Hinata Inn with your brother. When you run the inn with your brother he won't need Yamato anymore and Yamato can come home." Saki explained.
"I made that promise as a child, I will fulfill it one day but after I fulfill my own dreams and accomplish everything I want to in life." Kanako declared.
"Stop being such a brat and come with me." Saki shouted grabbing Kanako's hand.
As Kanako's exhausted body struggled against Saki's enraged strength two guys came to Kanako's aid and pulled Saki away from her. One was tall, lean and had glasses and the other was short and stubby with bigger glasses.
"Shirai." Kanako said looking at the short male before turning to the taller male. "Haitani."
"Are you okay?" Haitani asked.
Seeing the two males, Saki quickly turned tail and bolted.
"Thank you. If she had continued I may have had to resort to violence." Kanako frowned thinking about how she might lose her friends if they found out she was an expert fighter.
"Let's walk you home, you can tell us what all this was about." Shirai suggested.
Kanako nodded and accepted the offer.
XXXXX
"Mrs. Urashima, I can't understand you if you talk so fast." Makoto said as struggled to keep up with the woman's frantic pace.
"Saki Asai? That's the name of the person." Makoto confirmed while making a note and cutting the call.
"Did you say Saki Asai?" Yamato asked.
"Where did you come from?" Makoto asked.
"I was always standing here. You were busy on your phone and then it rang." Yamato answered.
"Huh, I was busy typing out something." Makoto explained.
"Back to what I was saying, did you say Saki Asai?" Yamato questioned.
"Yes, do you know her?" Makoto inquired.
"Maybe, if I can tell you about her will you let my cousin go?" Yamato tried to cut a deal.
"No, but if you don't tell me I can arrest you for obstruction of justice." Makoto countered not really meaning what he said.
"She's a childhood friend who's staying at my aunt's bathhouse." Yamato folded under minimal pressure.
"Good, now you're going to write down the address of this bath house." Makoto said handing Yamato a piece of paper and a pen.
Yamato did as he was told and wrote the address. With the address in hand Makoto moved out while dialing up the Urashima residence.
XXXXXX
Shinobu sat in the officer's longue worried and afraid. Her precious sempai was in big trouble after they found Su's stuff under the Hinata House. Shinobu knew deep down that one day Su would get her sempai into trouble but she never did anything about it.
"Here, have some tea. You look shaken up." Mai smiled as she handed Shinobu a small cup.
"Thank you." Shinobu squeaked.
"You don't have to be scared of me. I'm here to help you." Mai assured.
"Then why did you arrest sempai. He didn't do anything wrong. It was all Su. Sempai would never hurt anyone." Shinobu exclaimed.
"You really admire your sempai, is he that nice of a person." Mai questioned.
"Well, he tries to be. All the other girls used to take advantage of him. I'm none the better since I never did anything to stop them." Shinobu admitted.
"Tell me Shinobu, have you ever been hurt while staying at the Hinata House, by anyone?" Mai asked.
"No! Sempai would never allow that." Shinobu answered.
"Has Keitaro ever been violent with you or any of the other girls?" Mai continued.
"It's the other way around! Naru and Motoko are the ones beating up sempai and Kitsune is always stealing his money. Even Sarah breaks vases on sempai's head just for fun. Su likes to test out all her devices on him." Shinobu confessed.
Mai could tell from the dead serious look in Shinobu's eyes that she was telling the truth about what was happening in the Hinata House.
"I guess that's what this is. I thought I was called in to save minors from an abusive caretaker. I was called in to save the caretaker from abusive minors." Mai mumbled.
"I don't understand." Shinobu shook her head.
"We received a call telling us that there were some shocking things going on at the Hinata House involving minors. We assumed someone was abusing the kids but we didn't think it would be the kids abusing their guardian." Mai explained.
"So you're going to help sempai?" Shinobu almost leapt from her seat.
"If he manages to get out of the trouble he is in then maybe I will be able to do something." Mai replied.
"I know Naru, Motoko, Su, Sarah and Kitsune all deserve to be punished but please go easy on them. Even though they act like bullies most of the time, they're still the closest thing I have to family." Shinobu confessed.
"I read in Keitaro's tenant information that your parents were getting divorced. How are you handling that?" Mai asked.
"My mom says my dad is cheating pig and my dad says my mom is a lying witch. They hate each other now and I hate that. I miss being a family so much. They only fight over everything in this divorce, even me, like I'm some possession." Shinobu cried.
"I remember when my parents divorced. One day dad didn't come home and mum said he would never be. They fought tooth and nail for the house, the car, the business they owned, everything except for me." Mai smiled sadly.
"What happened?" Shinobu asked.
"It turned out my mum was actually the one who was cheating on my dad. She lost everything including me. I grew up with my dad and never saw my mum again. She moved away to start over after her name was tarnished when news of her adultery spread." Mai admitted.
"That's going to happen to me…" Shinobu muttered.
"No, I can't say what's going to happen in your case. But here." Mai said as she handed Shinobu a card.
"What is this?" Shinobu asked.
"That's my personal number. If you need to talk about anything, give me a call." Mai explained.
XXXXXX
Onizuka paced around the office like a man possessed as Urumi tried to calm him down.
"Calm down baby, we're in the officer's lounge not the interrogation room. They just want to ask us some questions. That is all." Urumi reassured.
"I knew my past would one day catch up with me. Back when Ryuji and I were Oni-Baku, we used to come to this district a lot and raise hell fighting rival gangs. I'm sure one of those officers must have recognized me." Onizuka panicked.
"That life is behind you. You're a well respected teacher now and a national hero, remember. You took a bullet to save a girl you barely knew." Urumi smiled.
"That's right. I got an award from the mayor and everything." Onizuka smirked.
"Don't move you Oni-Baku bastard!" A loud voice boomed as the door to the room swung open.
"I told you they remember." Onizuka clutched his head in frustration.
"They don't but Toshiyuki Saejima does." Urumi rolled her eyes.
"Toshiyuki you bastard." Onizuka growled glaring at his old friend.
"It's been a while Eikichi." Toshiyuki laughed.
"What are you doing here? This isn't your station." Onizuka asked.
"A friend of a friend of a friend told me that you were brought in for some questioning." Toshiyuki explained.
"That still doesn't explain why you're here." Urumi scoffed.
"I see your girlfriend still hasn't warmed up to me." Toshiyuki laughed.
"You can't blame her, you tried to scam her life savings before you found out she was my girlfriend." Onizuka reminded.
"That was in the past. Now in the present, I came over here to bail you out in case someone recognized you as Oni-Baku." Toshiyuki explained.
"If they didn't recognize him, they most certainly would have heard you shout it." Urumi mentioned.
"Don't sweat it, the station is almost empty. Everyone is out running down some delivery company." Toshiyuki revealed.
"What delivery company?" Urumi asked.
"Some case about explosives and a foreign country running their own delivery service." Toshiyuki explained
"This must have something to do with Keitaro. That idiot just signed for packages that he had no idea about." Urumi cursed.
"When I first met him I had a feeling that he would be someone who would get in trouble because he's too trusting." Onizuka sighed.
"Oh man, Keitaro, when I was walking down the hall way I heard that name. That guy is in big trouble." Toshiyuki explained.
XXXXXX
To be continued… and concluded in the next chapter.
