Chapter 3

Mutual Gaze

Senku's misfortune seems to follow him about like a bad omen, and what little hope he had that day may have been dashed by Tanaka Hanada's death, which occurred at the wrong time and place. It was stripped away when Stanley Snyder's letter arrived before Kohaku departed for the viewing of the satellite launch with her sister and Chrome.

Amber,

In response to your reply, I regret to inform you that we do indeed have strong evidence against Senku Ishigami.

Forensics found a strand of his hair on the floor where Mr. Tanaka was killed, as well as a broken wristwatch that he usually wears under Hanada's bed. To put it another way, Senku is standing right in front of where the crime was committed.

We have reason to believe that if he had intended to visit Hanada in good faith, he would not have traveled far from his office and his visit that day could be dismissed as proof of his innocence. But there were some pieces of evidence that could only have belonged to him that were found at the scene of Hanada's murder, which prove his guilt and strongly suggest otherwise.

Xeno has informed me that he intends to attend this weekend's satellite launch. It worries me that, as a member of the government's Army Intelligence Division, my mere presence could raise suspicions in his mind. I hope you'll be able to give me a detailed account of his activities at the party when you get back to Tokyo. Be wary, because the satellite launch afterparty could be a good opportunity for him to concoct another heinous scheme.

-SS

Her mentor's last words never allowed her mind to rest as they traveled to Tanegashima Space Center to attend the launching of another of Japan's space satellites. She knows Senku cannot possibly miss this event for he was one of the pioneering engineers of the satellite.

Why? Why would Senku do it? If it were true, what could be his goal or the reason behind it?

Was Tanaka Hanada involved in something suspicious? As the head of the forensics division, did that explain Senku's presence? Or was it more likely that they were both doing and talking about something at the same time and something went wrong?

Kohaku sighed heavily and shook her head. It is imperative that she should think logically and without prejudices. The evidence found at the scene of the crime would never lie.

Most especially his precious watch that was found and could link him to the murder.

"You look tired, Kohaku," Ruri said beside her as Chrome drove their car to their destination.

"Of course, she is," Chrome said slyly in front of them. "She not only deals with the problems of her beloved sister but also those of the entire family. And many others." Chrome continued thoughtfully as Kohaku glared at him for revealing clues about her secret to Ruri.

She turned her attention to Ruri, "I am fine, Ruri. I just finished reviewing five sets of ten pages of proposals from our engineers."

"I reviewed them all for you if you have forgotten," Chrome reminded her with a smirk.

"Shut up, Chrome," she snapped. The car came to a stop at a gas station and Ruri excused herself that she will go to the bathroom for a bit. Kohaku didn't think twice to rant on Chrome as soon as they were both outside of the car. Chrome was surprised to have come face to face with an angry-looking Kohaku.

"You may have given Ruri the list of eligible bachelors, but you know that we still have a lot to do. After the launch, you're supposed to introduce her to Dr. Bronson, while it was my job to threaten Magma."

Chrome simply shook his head and muttered something under his breath before averting his gaze away from her.

Ruri was now in front of them, her green eyes assessing her with concern. She has heard half of what Kohaku had said about Dr. Bronson, she can understand that, but it was something else entirely that she worried about for her younger sister.

Kohaku just smiled at her, memorizing every detail about Ruri's beauty. The two of them inherited their mother's blonde hair, but she acquired her father's blue eyes while Ruri's from their late mother. Ruri Weinberg was the only one of the Weinbergs with green eyes. They chose to adopt their mother's surname for it was the wish of their father to honor their late mother's surname.

"Don't worry about me, Ruri. I'm fine." She reassured, but her sister remained frowning, she chuckled and held her shoulder "I am really fine, sister!"

It seemed like Ruri was going to say something but she reconsidered and closed her mouth. Kohaku knew what her sister was going to say, but she was thankful she didn't say it.

Ruri was the sole witness to how her younger sister suffered after Senku Ishigami left her, even more so Ruri was never ignorant of who would be attending the satellite launch. She was merely concerned about them meeting each other after four years. Senku after all brought ruin to her family, not only did he put her father in prison, but he nearly ruined her younger sister as well.

"I am so proud of how far you've come, Senku." Lilian Weinberg said as she greets Senku near the entrance of the space center. It was a bright sunny day, a perfect day to launch his anticipated advanced satellite that would help scientists learn how to predict solar storms that release torrents of charged particles that can damage spacecraft electronics and expose astronauts to high levels of radiation.

Senku smiled at his adopted mother. "You didn't need to watch it on such short notice, Lilian," he told her nonchalantly while poking in his ear. He came straight to finishing and wrapping up the communications for his satellite in the space center since last night. If Senku would have his way, he won't let his adopted mother attend such an event, even if it meant for her to keep away from her niece's sights.

Lilian's blonde hair resembling Ruri's, Kohaku's older sister, already had a streak of white hair, which she masterfully carried with pride despite how young from her age she appeared. Senku was well-loved by his adoptive mother and he also knew the death of his father, Byakuya, had the greatest impact on his own mother's changes in her well-being all those years.

His mother's calm voice suddenly turned cold when she said, "I've heard the sisters will also be in attendance for the launch." Following her gaze to the windows of the space center, Senku soon realized what had changed Lilian's demeanor. He noticed how Lilian's eyes narrowed when she looked at the sisters she used to love as nieces but it all changed if it weren't for the fact that she believes their parents are involved in the death of her husband.

The glass windows were facing the parking lot where he saw a familiar car arrive. Chrome was the first to get out from the driver's seat, offering Ruri his hand, and eventually, Kohaku got out herself without Chrome's chivalrous help. Senku collected himself and made sure his mother couldn't read his expression.

"I do hope their father was denied once again to file for an appeal to get out of prison," said his mother in contempt, as her eyes followed the sisters as they climbed the steps to the entrance of the space center's building.

Senku's eyes followed Kohaku's hand as it came up to brush her short blonde hair, which she had probably let out straight during the four years he hadn't seen her. Her head tilted toward Chrome, who was attempting to speak, and then the same hand swiftly moved to slap Chrome's upper arm, her expression changing to one of horror. Chrome laughed and walked ahead to avoid another attack from Kohaku, while Ruri just chuckled at their antics as she walked behind them.

Ruri just chose to play along with her friend and younger sister's debacle. Senku suddenly remembered he used to be one of them to mess around with the same picture he witnessed just now.

She is still the same Kohaku I've known, he thought.

His lips slowly curved into a smirk but he caught himself and held them tight, finally forcing his eyes off of Kohaku.

"Byakuya would have been more proud than I am to attend your satellite launch," Lilian said, her voice cracking as she was trying hard to suppress the tears "He would be crying solitary tears of joy for seeing you succeed in life." Tears were dropping down Lilian's face and she gracefully wiped it away with the back of her finger. She sniffed and lifted her eyes to look at Senku. "I am glad you changed your mind about marrying Kohaku. I can't imagine how I would have felt if you married her! Her father killed and took Byakuya away from us."

His jaw tightened and he drew in exaggerated sighs to numb something inside his chest before it began to creep in. His hands were inside his pockets as he slouched a bit. He already made his decision four years ago. Lilian knew that. His mother should have spared him the agonizing reminder of everything he had lost, for he had not only lost Byakuya, but also a best friend and the greatest love of his life.

He also wished his mother would refrain from mentioning her nieces. His wish was that soon she would completely forget about them like she had made him forget about Kohaku. He felt that their family had been ruled by hatred and they should be moving forward rather than reliving the past.

A scientist from the communications department of the satellite walked near them and asked for his presence. He fixed his lab coat, excused himself from his mother, and freed himself of his mother's presence.

The sisters who were with Chrome earlier probably have already prepared to witness the launch on the screens inside the building. He hoped to encounter them in the launch afterparty. The launch of his new satellite was the most significant in Japan's history. Affluent politicians from all over Japan were in attendance, and it would not be a problem for him to meet them again, especially Kohaku.

Senku came here for the sole reason of launching the satellite that he engineered, but he also came here for an important matter as well.

If someone close to him became suspicious of his actions, even more so of his goals, it would be detrimental to his cause. He realized that a life had already been wasted because of it.

Kohaku vowed to never repeat that shameful act again. The launch of the satellite was a success, and she just separated from her sister and Chrome during the afterparty to look for her target.

She went to every hall of the event she could think of, or those that she was privy to in the years she spent attending the same party every time she stood guard should someone try to sabotage the rocket launch. She gave up looking for him after an hour, she thought Senku must be probably busy arranging the communications and other issues between its observatory.

She decided to search for Chrome instead because her dear friend needed a little reminder of his task at hand for Ruri's sake. Kohaku retraced her steps and as she was crossing a great hallway leading to the grand staircase when she heard a familiar voice that made her heart stop.

She paused sneakily and decided to turn around.

Senku was far from her, but not too far for her not to notice him wearing his usual lab coat and wearing the silver watch on his wrist. She knows he had been too fond of watches and she has never seen him wear without them.

The bitter picture she made for him eight years ago was also a reminder of the watch. It was a plain stainless steel watch, but it was special because she had it customized with a red vignette and diamond rubies she handpicked from her father's mines because they reminded her of Senku's crimson eyes. That small project had consumed many of her days and nights with Joel, the skilled watchmaker, and she couldn't help but scoff as she realized how naive she had been to waste so much time and energy on it now.

She can't help but also think about what has become of it now? Did Senku finally come to his senses and just throw it away? She wondered for a moment as she stood facing him and his friend with silver hair and green eyes.

Kohaku thought of other reasons to demand that he return the precious watch to her. It was still a Weinberg piece after all.

She shook her head in disbelief at the absurdity of her own thoughts. Kohaku needs to concentrate on her mission and not get distracted. She took a look around and saw that the hallway would have been nearly empty if not for a few guests who had just arrived to join the afterparty. As she contemplated delaying her plan to obtain more information from Senku in favor of simply observing him and his strange companion, she made the mistake of turning her gaze back toward him. This time she was met with a pair of crimson eyes staring back at her sapphire ones.