Eli stepped out of the arrival hall and looked around. She was trying to find her sister, but she couldn't seem to find her anywhere. Eli took a seat and waited for her younger sister to come.
She whipped her phone out to see if there was any new information about the Lee Lee Restaurant case. Unfortunately, it wasn't updated. Yet again, there were commenters under the article who were complaining about it as usual.
'It's another case the police can't solve.'
'I wonder if the police are even doing their job properly. They can't seem to find even anything in the slightest. They're so useless.'
'Why do these murders keep happening? And it's far worse when the police can't find any evidence. Is it not safe for all of us to go out anywhere again? We might be just randomly killed in the streets and no one will find out who murdered us! Oh lord!'
'Sad to see the families of the deceased having no justice because the lousy police couldn't catch the bad guys involved. What a disappointing and devastating day.'
She switched off her phone. She didn't want her mind to be filled with negativity after seeing those comments. Yes, the police might not be doing so well now, but she still believed in them. She was convinced that they can be the once-prestigious police force they used to be.
Just then, another blonde woman, who was shorter than Eli, stood beside her. Eli looked up and grinned. She stood up and hugged the woman.
"Long time no see, Alisa." Eli patted her head.
"I really, really miss you, Onee-chan." Alisa replied back.
In Alisa's Lexus ES350, Eli buckled her seatbelt as the former started up the car. It has been four years since the Ayase sisters have seen each other, and both of them were happy to be reunited after a very long time.
"So, how's your life in Tokyo, Alisa?" Eli asked, "If I'm not wrong, you just finished university."
Alisa nodded her head in response, "I'm going to start my singing career soon. I do hope someone notices me and then signs me to a record label."
"I want to hear the songs you sing." Eli said in awe, "I'm sure they'll be very melodic to listen to. I do hope you release a studio album too! That way, people will take you seriously."
"I know." Alisa smiled upon hearing that her sister supported her, "How's your stay in Russia? Is it fun going through the military training as you thought it was?"
Eli did not have fun one bit. She had gone through a hard, vigorous, tough time just to pass the army's standards. Although she had gotten stronger and she could fight now, which was beneficial to her, she was really tired from it. The only thing she enjoyed was staying with her grandmother.
The times she spent with her granny baking cookies, sewing clothes, starting a conversation about anything. She missed those times. Even when there's technology now for people to have video calls, Eli would rather see her loved ones face to face.
"Onee-chan, have you heard about the Lee Lee restaurant?" A question from Alisa immediately snapped her back to reality. She looked at her younger sister with confusion, who was waiting for an answer.
"I'm sorry. What did you ask just now?" Eli asked, "I was thinking about Obaasan earlier on, and I didn't listen to what you've said." Alisa rolled her eyes and repeated the question. The blonde woman nodded her head in response.
"It really is another sad news." Alisa sighed, "Another murder case the police aren't able to solve. It's really...sorrowful. You should've seen the devastated look on Mrs Lee's face. She was absolutely heartbroken, and she can only live with the fact that the murderer is unknown."
When she stopped at a red traffic light, she took her phone out and showed her older sister the video. In that clip, it showed that Yosuke's wife was crying uncontrollably outside the scene of the restaurant as Yosuke's body bag was carried out. The headlines read, 'Murder of restaurant boss: Killer still not found; police have no clue.'
"Say, Onee-chan," Alisa catechized, "Are you still into fighting for justice?"
Eli sighed upon hearing that. She felt horrible just seeing all these terrifying incidents, but it's not like she could do anything to help anyways. She always felt helpless when she can't do anything, and this time is no different. She shook her head, disappointed at herself.
"Onee-chan?" Alisa waved her hand in front of Eli.
"I can't even do anything." Eli let out a small smirk, "So much for me wanting to uphold justice when I don't have the power to help. Anyways, let's talk about something else, alright?" Alisa nodded her head silently and continued driving.
The next morning, in an office building, Maki went into the lift and pressed the fifth floor button. She dreaded going back to see her boss again. The fact that she has to visit him once more to receive one more boring lecture made her grumble.
She stood outside her higher-up's office and knocked on his door. Once he allowed her to enter, she walked in and closed the door. He offered her a seat, and told her to sit down.
"You know, Maki, you should explain yourself." He poured some tea in his cup, "Even when I told you many times not to retaliate, you still decided to defy my orders. I hope to hear a reasonable excuse for you to do so."
Maki breathed in and out before explaining, "I saw a man trying to film an upskirt video on a woman. He tried to run away, so I decided to stop him. I did not kill him."
"Maki, do you know what you are working as?" He asked with annoyance, "Do you know who you're working for? Do you know how other people look at you?"
She knew the answer, but she didn't want to speak out. She didn't need her boss to tell her. She was already pissed by that tone of his. She was even more irritated because she knew what he was going to say.
"You're working for my company as an air stewardess." He continued, "The comments I have received about you aren't that outstanding either. People all over the Internet are asking us why we are having a flight attendant who is doing kung fu and not serving passengers. Some people are even scared of you. How many more times must I tell you to do your job instead of fighting every single time?"
"Boss, a life is at stake!" Maki talked back, "Someone filmed an upskirt video of a woman, and tried to get away with it. That's insulting a woman's modesty! She could have been threatened with that clip only, and her life would have been endangered! I can't just leave the vulnerable who can't fight back or retaliate to fend for themselves! I will be going against my own morals if I do that!"
"Who gives a flying fuck about your morals?!" He slammed the table, "Remember, Maki! You are not a superhero! It is the police's job to apprehend the pervert, not you! You're just an air stewardess who has created a lot of trouble for us! One more time this kind of situation happens again, you won't need to board any airplane as an air stewardess. Now get out of my office!"
Maki stood up and bowed before leaving the office. As she left the building, she took one last look at it as she clenched her fists in anger. She genuinely wanted to help people, but her job keeps permitting her to do so. She could only listen to her boss this time to avoid losing her job.
But was this the right thing to do? She honestly didn't know. She was at a loss now too.
In the police station, Zi Yang and Kanan were in the latter's office room, talking about the Toyota car driver.
"When you girls found a clue, you have no idea how elated I was." Zi Yang told her, "After days of finding nothing and getting scolded multiple times, we are finally able to take a step forward."
"Who knows, we might even be able to solve the case, starting with this clue." She uttered, "We should look on the bright side. Maybe this one thing will lead us to another, and soon we'll be able to find out who's really behind all this nonsense."
"I certainly do pray that we close this case as soon as we can. That way, that bitch can shut up about us being very unproductive."
"You know, you're a bit funny when you shit on Ma'am." Kanan softly chuckled, "I know you dislike her and all, but I understand why she's like that. The public has been talking bad about us for a while, and she doesn't want our names smeared."
"More like she wants her stupid reputation to be upheld with pride." Zi Yang crossed his arms, "I'm grateful to have you as my partner. You helped me in a lot of the cases, and I appreciate that."
"Hey, don't make it sound like I have all the credit." Kanan patted his shoulder, "You sometimes see things I don't, and you fight way better than I do. Your martial arts skills are superb. I really wish to learn from you."
"C'mon, you are not bad yourself." He replied, "You used to work for a big gang boss with your former partner-in-crime. Do you miss her?"
Kanan stood up from her seat and looked at the windows, "I think it's best to walk away from my past. I don't want to be reminded of my former foolish self."
The both of them then heard a knock on the door. They turned around to see Kotori standing at the entrance. The eyes of the two inspectors beamed as they awaited for the positive outcome.
"Sir, Madam, I've just called the transport authorities." Kotori voiced out, "They've checked it out and told us that all ten number plates belong to Toyota Corollas. The same color too, in fact. White."
Zi Yang's jaw dropped as soon as he heard that. Kanan was just speechless. They didn't have anything to say, neither do they want to believe this at all.
"This is fucking bullshit." Zi Yang muttered to himself as the trio went to Kotori's desk, where they saw Umi calling people.
"Umi-chan's calling the cars dealers to find out who they sold the cars to." Kotori explained, "We can track down the owners from there and investigate them one by one."
Kanan nodded and asked if she could have some of the numbers so that she could help the police officers. Kotori agreed and gave her three numbers from a piece of paper while she herself called two of the numbers.
While the three women were busy making calls, Zi Yang scratched his head in frustration. It took ages for the police to find just one clue, and that gave him some hope for the case. For that only hope to be dashed very quickly, that made him feel pretty pissed. He didn't like the feeling at all.
"This is bullshit." He sighed as he took a number from the piece of paper and called it.