"Everyone here?" King asked when the live stream started.
"I'm here!" Child Emperor chuckled. "I've been so busy lately! It's good to hang out with you all again."
"This is gonna be awesome!" Tareo said in the live chat. He was staying one of the guest rooms in the penthouse floor and sharing the room with Cold Snap and Fumio. There was a microphone set up to easily catch their voices.
"I'm also here, but I may just listen while running tests," Dr. Kuseno chuckled. "I have a lot of projects going that are quite time-sensitive."
"Of course," Mitsumi said with understanding.
"Iwasaki and I watched everything through our window. I am curious on what you can do now, Mitsumi," Flashy Flash chuckled through his headset.
"Indeed!" Mitsumi agreed through the master bedroom microphone.
"I can help check out the luxury boat tomorrow," Deep Sea Prince offered.
"Thank you!" Mitsumi beamed with enthusiasm. Saitama had her laying back in the new treasure bed and completely locked to him when he needed her. They had the speakers activated near the bed, and a microphone was settled just over their headrest to ensure they could be heard easily. The mute button was also in easy reach with a hanging switch.
"This is very different for me," Kiyoshi admitted from his guest room on the 9th floor. He was talking through the headset, but he found himself completely relaxed. "I may work on my laptop to get some things done during this."
"That's fine," Daiki agreed from his separate guest room. They had both taken the left side set of luxury rooms and Kiyoshi claimed the master bedroom for himself. Daiki was amazed that the guest room on its own was like a miniature master bedroom. He was thoroughly impressed. He was in absolute awe of the living landscape and had already praised Mitsumi's family and pets for their ingenious of it. Kiyoshi even promised to write a full review in his newspaper to have it filtered everywhere the moment the hotel was fully opened. He did agree to no pictures to keep such a thing a surprise.
"Is the room service working?" Saitama asked in the live chat.
"So far, it's working as intended. Anno is in the kitchen of the restaurant to fully test the functions. I'm sure he plans to be there for another hour or so before calling it a night. Same with the night staff," Zombieman said from the opposite set of rooms on the 9th floor. Of course, he and Himiko had claimed the master bedroom in that set of rooms, and she was going through the room service food listing. Anno confirmed Zombieman's comment, and he had Takeda resting lightly in plush chair for now.
"These rooms are just amazing! Can we get our home in City X redone?" Himiko asked. Confirmations were given, and she moved to start writing down ideas. Then she came back to their microphone in the master bedroom they were in. "We need that garden looked at back at the main home."
"A garden?" Tangled Vine blinked from where he was settled on Mitsumi's pillow. "I should check this out."
"I don't want the staff to see you as something else. You haven't been to that home yet," Mitsumi frowned.
"Lightning Max is still there. He decided to, eh…stay to help," Daiki said. "We gave him a guest room on the security room floor for such things."
"Ah! Okay. Have him escort Tangled Vine?" Mitsumi smiled.
"I shall look tomorrow. I do not feel a real need to go now. Hmm. Cold Snap, can you send a gem from Stable Rock there? As a small camera for us? I can assess the garden now and get ideas on how to revitalize it when there," Tangled Vine suggested.
"Send…lots…of my…stones…" Stable Rock rumbled. "If not…to see…then…to listen…"
"Wait. You can hear through those stones, too?!" Metal Knight asked with shock through his live feed microphone. Stable Rock snickered and let Cold Snap start to send a hundred tiny diamonds to the City X home. They were placed in every single room, in tight areas, ventilation fans and even in some drainage pipes.
Stable Rock focused on a large diamond on his shell for an image of the garden to appear. Tangled Vine studied the underground garden plot and growled deeply at what he saw. He was clearly upset now, and he blinked his glowing emerald green eyes at Mitsumi. "It was clearly abandoned from neglect! The soil is no good from the rotting of the plants that fell all over it. Even the soil looks…putrid from a form of decay! It almost looks like a swamp from the moisture collected in the soil. It will need to be purified and redone. Also, I do not like how the garden is underground. I can understand for quick needs, but that needs to be fixed."
"We can…fix it…later…" Stable Rock grunted.
"That doesn't sound like a natural decomposition," Dr. Kuseno commented.
"I think no one tended it from the smell after a while," Himiko admitted.
"Wait…is that…a bone…?!" Mitsumi gasped on something solid white sticking out from the fouled soil. Saitama rose up quickly to narrow his eyes and inspect what she saw in Stable Rock's diamond. King stopped what he was doing to listen in, and even Genos was shocked. Dr. Kuseno could only frown hard to himself that his thoughts were correct. There was stunned silence all through the live chat now. No one could see any other footage from Stable Rock's gem, but Cold Snap was quick to relay the images being seen by his parents.
Metal Knight was just as quick to send a robot over to further inspect it. He didn't want Siren there for safety, and she helped guide the robot's movements for digital scanning. He activated a sensor scan to reveal what lay beneath the dead garden soil. They all gasped in shock when a full skeleton of a person was discovered laying under six inches of the fouled soil from the robot's images on a display screen. He grimaced at this and sent over two of his excavation robots now to further confirm what was discovered.
What Mitsumi saw was a finger bone that was finally revealed from the rotting plant life. It had separated from the hand and rose up to the surface from the decaying soil. Dead soil, dead plants and excess water were removed carefully, and a large tub was set down to catch what was cleared away to contain it for now. When the garden was fully drained out, the full skeleton was revealed with tattered bits of clothing nearly destroyed from decay.
"Daiki!" Saitama said quickly. "Did someone get murdered and buried in that garden?! A human skeleton was just pulled up by a robot!"
"I see that from the visions! I don't know how this happened!" Daiki said quickly. "I honestly have no idea!"
"Neither do I!" Himiko said in a her own form of panic. Zombieman was paying exceptionally close attention to piece things together.
"This would explain the smell and rot that was spoken of. As well as the excess moisture from the decomposing of the body," Tangled Vine sighed. He studied the image again and found himself perplexed. "You would think the plants would have thrived from the decay, but the soil could not be tiled or tended to. It just lay stagnant and forgotten with no movement to refresh things. As though purposely forgotten and abandoned. Hmm. There are tattered remnants of clothing there that survived through the decomposition. The most solid piece…a skirt hem…from a cleaning uniform…?"
"That's…one of the serving maids…!" Mitsumi said with pure horror.
"I think…a girl did go missing…" Himiko whispered loudly over the chat. "We all thought she just quit from the work that she had to do…"
"Was it Fumihiro that could have done it?" Saitama asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it with how he was abusing the girls," Zombieman snorted. Kiyoshi was completely outraged at this unknown news, and Daiki had to explain to him what was discovered that their youngest brother did in secret.
"So dishonorable! We need to know who that was!" Kiyoshi demanded.
"There is a name badge. It's plastic, but it doesn't look deformed from the way the soil is. And it did belong to one of the cleaning staff. The name is too faded out for me to see who it was from the deteriorated ink…" Metal Knight muttered out from what his robot further excavated. Another robot was there to act as an incinerator for the foul soil while it was removed. This included the tub contents to get everything safely charred away to ash with a filtered ventilation pipe to freshen the air quality in the room. "She was killed and buried in the garden. That's why the plants died and no one bothered to tend to it. A murder was done in the home and no one knew."
"I think I found the murder weapon. Look under the left arm," Saitama said from a glint his sharp eyesight caught. The robot pulled out a small dagger, and Fumihiro's initials were on the handle when the dirt was cleared away. Himiko shouted with anger from what Cold Snap revealed.
"What's going on?" Tareo asked when he saw Fumio making fists. He wasn't part of the visions for safety. He even watched Cold Snap cringing with complete anger and forcing himself to stay calm.
"I'll have to tell you later. Cold Snap is showing us something bad that was discovered. This is…just…too bad for you to see. Okay? I'll tell you when I know it's okay. Just listen for now. The visions…they're too bad. I'll make sure to tell you later," Fumio promised his friend. Tareo nodded and frowned hard.
"I'll find the girl's family and take care of it," Kiyoshi said sadly. "I'll have Sweet Mask send over some Hero Association officials now. If that is fine?"
"Lightning Max is aware. He will ensure everything goes smoothly, and he will contact a coroner first thing in the morning. You will be able to assist with this, Sweet Mask?" Inichi asked over his microphone. He was just barely able to keep Fubuki calm from all of it.
"Yes. I can do that. To show the Hero Association became involved as it's Fan Dancer's home that this was discovered in. That can work," Sweet Mask said over the live chat now. Tajima was shaking with complete horror now, and he was doing all he could to keep her calm. "He's dead now. He can't touch you. He can't touch anyone."
"Miss Mitsumi…I think this happened before you left us…" Takeda said in her microphone from where she was in the kitchen with Anno. He was cradling her now to help keep her calm and focused.
"Takeda?! Please tell us your side?" Mitsumi asked.
"You may briefly remember a girl by the name of Honda Jun. It was about three months before your father was murdered, I believe. She was only with us for a month, but she developed this…insane crush on Fumihiro. To the point of stalking him. I think he knew, because we found her wincing now and then when she walked. When we caught her leaving the shower facility, we saw lash marks and small cuts on her back.
"We asked her about it…and she stayed quiet. A week later…she went missing. I honestly think she may have let him go too far with hopes of being with him. Or he was with her, and she let him do whatever he wanted to her. No one really knew about this. Even your father had no idea. When it was noticed that she was gone, Fumihiro…he was the one that said she left…" Takeda blinked with sudden recognition.
"That name matches what was on an older roster. And the ink pattern on the badge…the name matches with what is left on the name tag," Metal Knight confirmed. "This is definitely Honda Jun's body."
"Fumihiro murdered her and hid the weapon with her," Zombieman grounded. "Absolutely disgusting!"
"Come to think of it, Fumihiro did take a sudden interest in gardening around that time. Mainly with various chemicals, and he warned everyone to stay away from the garden for a time. He even had the gardeners let go to show he wanted to 'help with expenses'," Daiki muttered out. "I always questioned it, but he convinced all of us that he just wanted to show he was trying a new path for a possible career. I bet he used that area to meet with Honda, do what he wanted and planned to use the garden to cover things up.
"He may have used the chemicals he got to enhance the cover up for decomposition of the body. He lost interest in the garden a couple months out and no one questioned it, but the garden was so…horrid after that! Father wanted to fix it, but Fumihiro was always making excuses to just leave it alone from how much food we bought anyways. And with the gardeners being let go, well…no one else was there to check on it. So we forgot all about it."
"I remember that argument," Mitsumi blinked. "My fake mother honestly showed she didn't care, but Father was livid at what Fumihiro did. Some of those plants were so expensive and exotic! Eventually he let it go because he got tired of fighting with Fumihiro over it. He was actually planning to hire a gardener back to see what could be done, but then he got killed. It was never done."
"Remember what I stated in the beginning about the decomposition not being natural? This is why. We need to collect a soil sample to really see what chemicals were used," Dr. Kuseno said quickly.
"I agree, and I shall collect a sample now," Metal Knight said while doing just that with his robots. "It's done and in a jar. It shall be delivered to you."
"Good. Collect a sample for yourself so we can compare findings?" Dr. Kuseno asked. Metal Knight fully agreed with that.
"The garden shall be made better and even further enhanced with exotic plants unlike any have ever seen. I'm sure we can add Lava Lilies and the white flowers from Wind Crane, too. But I have to wonder how the poor girl died. And the witnessed torture?! It makes me wonder what all he did with her," Tangled Vine winced. Overgrown Rover and Scritch looked at each other and could only wait to offer what comfort they could when it was time.
"It started with her…" Tajima winced. "The torturing…the way it's described…it was the same thing that happened to me…"
"Did you ever see her?" Sweet Mask asked. "Honda Jun?"
"Not directly. I was never in the same area as her for cleaning or scheduling to constantly see how she was. But…I did notice she had looks of pain on her face when we did pass each other in the halls. I just…didn't know how to approach her," Tajima swallowed. "But why would he kill her?!"
"I found out why," Metal Knight said when his robot exposed a positive pregnancy test in a small, sealed plastic bag that was laying under the skeleton. It was as though that small bit of evidence was protected by the victim to show why it happened as a last bought to bring her sad story to a close. Now Mitsumi was in a horrific rage at everything, and Saitama had to mute the microphone.
"Mitsumi! Look at me!" Saitama ordered to get her attention.
"He murdered her…when she got pregnant by him…?!" she seethed.
"Mitsumi, please," he said and pressed a hand to her belly. She felt Takaki kicking her to remind her that he was there. She found herself in tears now from the gruesome discovery, and Saitama was holding her close. "I know. Once again, your emotions got kicked to the curb. We'll clean it up. We'll move the garden outside to make new memories with it. Everything will be made right, and we'll come clean with the family of that girl. I'm sure they worried and need closure."
"Uncle…Kiyoshi…said he'd…handle that…" she gasped and clung to him.
"He will," he nodded. "Just calm down. I'm upset, too, but I already killed him. Your dad won't let him appear in our dreams. I'm sure your mom is just as pissed off as you are now. Everyone is mad. We need King to play his game and help calm all of us down. And we need snacks! Snacks help everyone stay happy! Just try not to think of it right now."
"Every time…I think it's done…it isn't…" she grimaced.
"I'm aware," he said gently and rocked her. "And I'm with you through all of it. Okay? We discovered this now. We're going to fix it. We don't need to tell anyone anything. We will fix it quietly."
"Okay…" she sighed weakly. "But…why go that far…?!"
"Remember how you said your family was steep in politics? Even your uncle told Sweet Mask that he had to marry Tajima once her pregnancy became known to keep political status peaceful. If your brother got a serving girl pregnant, well, how would it have made your family look back then in the public eye of reporters?" Saitama asked carefully. Now she paled at the thought. "Right. So, instead of coming clean like he should have, he removed all of it. And he hid it very well. Until now."
"He should have reported it the moment an interest was given to him!" she growled. "He shouldn't have indulged her! Or given in to his needs!"
"And that's your dad talking," he grinned. She blinked at him and found herself blushing softly. "It proves that he taught you everything he knew. He guided you and protected you with his knowledge of discipline and reason. I already know that if I ever met Fumihiro when your father was still alive that I would be getting chewed out for slapping him through a wall."
"If he ever shows up in our dreams, I want you to slap him into a volcano!" she growled. He nodded to show he completely agreed. "Maybe right through the base of it into the core!"
"Okay. I hear you. Rest with me now," he said and kissed her forehead. He unmuted the microphone and said, "King, what game do you plan to play? We need to get this going so people don't stay pissed."
"Ah, right!" King agreed. "Well, Kamikaze suggested a fighting playthrough. I played a regular fighting game before and he watched at the mansion, but I figured I'd do a live stream on that with an actual plot. This way you all can hear people rage at me as I own them and still beat a game. The game I have ready is one that you have to play against other people to proceed through it. Even join a group now and then, but pretty rare to do. It's a bit popular now. Sound good? Or something else?"
"Do it!" Garou said quickly. Lily was dying with laughter in the background. "I will listen to everyone rage quit! I'll even enjoy people you team up with and complain that you did all the work and left them with nothing to do!"
"That's epic. Yeah. Seconded," Zenchu said from his microphone. The children were heard laughing in the background, and Wind Crane got them to quiet down with a small glare. "Babe, you know these people will swear."
"I know. I warned them not to repeat anything as precaution. And you had best not take up any examples," she warned her mate. He grinned at her and scowled at Garou's sharp laughter.
"I am having snacks and small meals delivered shortly. I am currently in the penthouse kitchen to cater to Lady Mitsumi and Saitama. If you need something, Cold Snap graciously offered to assist with deliveries," Orotsu said from his overhead microphone. He even had a small screen set up to watch King's gameplay, too. "For those testing the delivery system, Anno will be up for another hour to assist. I can take over for the overnight shifts until we find another that can help. We may need two forms of staffing to help with the load for hotel and restaurant. Maybe even four groups for day and night shifts with enough to cover any that need time off. What do you think, Lady Mitsumi?"
"You may be right," Mitsumi frowned. "It would be far too much for restaurant orders and then room service. And for overnight staffing? I fully agree with you on that. We would need another set of chefs of exquisite caliber to keep up with everything. Genos, can we get an advertisement set up?"
"I can do so tomorrow," Genos agreed. Kamiko frowned in thought and reached out to Tangled Vine directly. :Did you want my assistance with the garden? I could help you.:
:NO. I MUST PURGE IT MYSELF TO SHOW I AM PROTECTING MITSUMI AS HER PET. THANK YOU FOR THE OFFER, THOUGH! YOU MAY NEED TO HELP MISTUMI STAY CALM THROUGH THE WHOLE ORDEAL. THIS HAS DAMAGED HER AGAIN. I CANNOT LET HER SEE THE SOILED GARDEN OUT OF SAFETY TO HER MENTAL STATE. HELP HER STAY DISTRACTED WITH OTHER THINGS. IN FACT, I SHALL DO THIS TOMORROW AS SAITAMA WILL KEEP HER IN THE BEDROOM.:
:Understood. Let me know if you need anything at all.: Kamiko sighed and saw Genos looking at her. She had him mute his microphone before saying, "I offered to assist Tangled Vine with the garden. He said no. He had to do it to act as a measure of protection for Lady Mitsumi. He did, however, suggest that I help keep her distracted if needed."
"I see. I shall assist you," he nodded and let her snuggle into him. In the room of Kamikaze and Tacki back at the main apartments, Kamikaze was watching Tacki brooding with complete anger.
"What's going on?" he asked and speared a piece of grilled eel.
"That jerkoff! That's who! Killing that poor girl for getting her pregnant! Ooh! I'd totally build a cage with sharp spikes going inwards and-!" she started rant. He moved to quickly pull her to his chest and sigh hard.
"I know. I'm sure we all feel the same way about it. But what's done is done, unfortunately. Closure will be given to her family at long last. I wouldn't worry too much on it. So, I'm gonna make a bet with you," he grinned lightly.
"What?" Tacki blinked at him.
"Within five minutes of King playing, someone will rage quit," he snickered. She rose a brow at him.
"With how King plays? Thirty seconds the moment a battle starts! You will feed me cookies and cut up sweet and salty takoyaki balls if I win," she nodded.
"And if I win?" he asked.
"I made a new dress for you," she winked. Now he stared at her.
"A compromise," he said to get her laughing wickedly.
"Okay. I suppose I can wear it for you while you feed me," she grinned knowingly. That got him grinning back.
"I knew you liked her in dresses!" Bang said from where he was in his apartment for the night.
"Ah…damn it! I forgot to mute the microphone! Shit!" Kamikaze growled and got all listening in an uproar of laughter. Garou was laughing just as hard as it happened to him and Lily at one point. King started up the game soon after, and everyone was cheering with intense approval at how fast the S class hero was wasting anyone that got in his gaming path.
"I thought the game was supposed to last longer," Mitsumi chuckled and got fed some Peking duck on a stick. There were lightly spicy takoyaki balls with a sweet glaze for her craving needs ready to feed her next.
"It's because King is moving through it by killing off the players. It normally takes longer from their fighting," Kianna chuckled in the headset.
"Hey," Lightning Max said in the headset. "I'm letting you all know that the coroner is here now to take away the body. I had left a message at their main office, and it was insisted to come and get it now. He called me on his way over and seemed…extremely driven to do this quickly."
"No," Saitama said quickly. Mitsumi looked at him questionably. "One of us has to be there to evaluate everything. We don't know who Fumihiro talked to. I don't want anyone to cover up anything further. I would rather have Sweet Mask there with Kiyoshi to oversee it themselves. This was a very delicate situation that must be kept under control and out of the public eye."
"I agree with him," Kiyoshi said.
"Send the coroner away, please," Mitsumi said to further cement the decision. "I have to wonder why the coroner showed up so quickly…"
"I know why. He was a friend of Fumihiro's…" Daiki said.
"Fuck…" Garou grimaced.
"What?!" Zenchu asked and saw his mate keep the children calm.
"Do you think…he helped cover up for…?" Himiko asked.
"Detain him!" Inichi said quickly from what he started to glean from the coroner's thoughts. "Do not let him leave!"
"As he said!" Blue Ripple hissed out.
"He's in the elevator!" Lightning Max said from what a camera revealed.
"Sleeping gas is now used," Metal Knight said. "He is safe to confine."
"Tsuruga and Tanktop Girl are there," Cold Snap said. "They'll help! I got them over there fast!"
"Thanks, son!" Saitama said.
"What did you see, Inichi?" Sweet Mask asked.
"Fumihiro…that girl was not the first one…" Inichi said slowly.
"He is correct," Blue Ripple grumbled.
"WHAT?!" Mitsumi shrieked.
"Explain!" Saitama said quickly and hugged Mitsumi to calm her down.
"She was the first of actual staff, but he killed quite a few away from the home grounds in secret. Random people, that is. No one close to the home at all. He paid the coroner well to help cover up what he did, and they eventually became friends. If Fumihiro's father knew that his son was a murderer…" Inichi sighed hard. Fubuki was hugging him to comfort him now.
"This explains why he didn't care about anything. Or anyone," Himiko said with a sigh of complete sadness. "But the coroner…I have to wonder how they met. What interests they had that aligned so well to do this together…"
"I want to question him directly," Kiyoshi said with a small growl. "And I think I know who that one is, too. Was this one the same one that evaluated Etsuji's body? I need to know."
"It was…" Inichi blinked at what he had gleaned before the coroner had succumbed to the sleeping gas. "He…knew how Etsuji truly died…but he covered up the actual evidence of being strangled and went with the poisoned tea…"
"I need to confront him now," Mitsumi said with a dark edge in her tone.
"No," Saitama said. "Let Kiyoshi handle it."
"Then I don't want him to go to jail until I press charges against evidence and murder cover ups," she said adamantly. "I want you to slap him. And I want to check if he's a Secret Skins!"
"Ah…okay. Does he have a lump on his arm?" Saitama asked. "If the sleeping gas is in effect, then we should look now."
"He was just moved into a containment room. I can check on that for you," Lighting Max said. A short moment later, he came back and cleared his throat. "He does have a lump."
"Bring him to us when we check the others that must be seen to," Wind Crane said in her stern tone. "He shall be questioned and destroyed."
"We shall check his staffing and building of operations," Sweet Mask agreed. "If they are all in the know of the secrecy of covering up evidence, then they should all be checked if they are Secret Skins. If not, then charges will be pressed against them all."
"I'll help see to that!" Kiyoshi said. He was already typing up notes on his laptop to set up an exclusive appointment to see the coroner's office after visiting the family home in City X. "Sweet Mask, do ensure to have some of your men with me to act as protection and witnesses."
"Send an S class hero," Bang said. "I can go with you."
"Nah, one of the others," Kamikaze said.
"I could do it," Flashy Flash said.
"Eh…" Saitama frowned. "Maybe…?"
"Send Metal Bat," Child Emperor said. "Super Alloy Darkshine can also help. Even Tanktop Master."
"Send those two! Super Alloy Darkshine and Tanktop Master!" Tanktop Girl said over Lightning Max's headset.
"I can get approval from the board members," Sweet Mask.
"They already agree," Inichi chuckled. "It will be done first thing in the morning. They are just as appalled and wish for justice on what I told them just now. So you will need to go. I would suggest for Tajima to stay behind."
"Can I…go with you? I'd feel safer with you," Tajima said softly.
"Yes," Sweet Mask said without a second thought. "You can witness with me. This dealt with an old employer, and you can add eye-witness testimony."
"Good. Do it," Saitama agreed. He looked at Mitsumi and let her snuggle into him. Now Overgrown Rover fully cuddled into them both. Scritch shuffled over to them and flopped down to stretch over them. The other pets settled around the bed again, and Tangled Vine was purring heavily against Mitsumi's neck.
Saitama watched King's game again and continued to lightly feed his wife. As pissed as he was about everything, he knew he had to keep himself calm. If I start berserking into a rage, so will she. That will do something to Takaki. I have to remain calm about this crap. Everyone is pissed, but she looks at me to see how I am about it. I'm sure it's not the last of it, and it's just another block of garbage I have to slap away. And I'll do it the moment it comes up. If anything else comes up, I'll be ready to confront it and block it. Gladly.
*Author's Note - I was honestly not planning for this chapter to go the way it did! I had a completely different thing I was planning...and nope! Sometimes I even shock myself!*