"Mother? What are you saying?" Hiro's hand firmed up.
"You caught me. You knew," her smile widened.
"Mother, please." Kenji begged.
"It's all true. I swapped the medication and even made the concoction myself. You must've known what it was when you saw it," she looked dead into my eyes.
I nodded ever so slightly.
"I don't understand. How could you? I thought you loved him," her favorite son demanded.
"One day you'll understand."
"My team is coming in 15 minutes to bring you to prison for a homicide attempt. You better explain yourself," Tadashi coldly sneered.
"You know full well that I can get out on an insanity plea. Then you'll be legally obliged to surrender every evidence you have against me and I'll destroy them. You'll lose your case so badly that it will damage the firm's reputation."
"Are you threatening me, you wh*re?" Tadashi lunged at her, but he was stopped by Kenji.
"Tadashi stop it. She's right. It might go against everything we had worked for. Call off the arrest, we need a better plan," the big brother stated.
"You're just biased!" he growled.
"No, Kenji's right. We can't blow our chances," Hiro chimed in.
The red-haired man finally sighed and calmed down. He sat at a close proximity to his mom and called off his team. He slouched on the chair and rubbed his forehead in frustration as his fringe covered his eyes.
"What should we do now?" Hiro broke the silence.
"What do you mean what should we do? Were you listening? She doesn't sound like our mother and you're concerned with something else?" Kenji widened his eyes.
"Tadashi's right, you're biased. Regardless of who she is anymore, we need to do something about her authority. She wanted to kill our father! We wouldn't have known if it weren't for Ren."
"Let's lock her up in her room until there's something for us to do. We can manipulate surveillance," Tadashi looked over at his younger brother.
"I think it's a good idea. We need to refresh our mind and think this through."
"I'll look after her," I offered.
"What?" the siblings exclaimed in unison.
"She might manipulate the staff the way she made them swap the medicine in the hospital. Essentially, you can't trust anyone in the house right now," I explained.
"She's right. If we can't even trust our own mother, I'm not sure who else we could trust here," Tadashi agreed.
"I'll guard her while you deliberate," a voice joined in from the hallway.
"Makoto!" Hiro blurted.
"Your father had mandated me to watch over her carefully. I couldn't understand what he had meant and failed to do so as a result. I must redeem myself and do my duty to serve this family. I apologized for my lapse in judgement," Makoto bowed.
"Very well. Lock her up in her room for a week. We'll continue business as usual. I'll take over the firm and look after dad. Tadashi will watch over the restaurants and the security team. Hiro and Ren will be working together to find a solution and collect further proof to help our case," Kenji ordered.
Makoto walked over to his employer and guided her to her room on the second floor. She aggressively yanked around and protested.
"Let go of me! You traitor! How can you do this to your own master? Let me go!!! Don't touch me!" she screamed.
"It's for the best. Don't leave any mark on her," Tadashi shrugged cold-heartedly and walked out.
"Please, baby. Kenji darling, this is your mother. If you let me go now, I promise you I'll disappear. Or I'll do whatever you say. I won't wreak havoc. I'll play nice," she sobbed as Makoto dragged her out.
"I'm sorry, I don't know you anymore," Kenji looked away.
"This is all your fault! I'll finish you once I'm out. You better watch your back and sleep with one eye open,' she threatened me before vanishing to the top floor.
"What a turn of event. I'll be in my office if you need me. I'll leave you to it," Kenji bowed and left us alone.
"Do you think we will find a good solution in a week?" I worriedly gazed at the empty room.
Hiro put his hand on my shoulder, "we'll figure it out slowly, okay? Do you have to do any assignments?"
"Um… no. I don't think so. I finished our monthly report and my trainees are going to the competitions instead of me."
"Perfect. Let's do some training," he grabbed my wrist and walked towards the south wing.
"I-I don't understand. What training?"
"You heard her, she's gonna go for you if she's ever going out. And we can't be sure what's gonna happen to her."
"I'm still not following," I tilted my head.
"We'll do self-defense training. I needed to start working out again anyway. Exercise always helps me clear my mind. It might help us find an inspiration for the case."
Even though the thought of me training with martial arts still scared me, it was for my own good. I couldn't rely on them for protection forever. I needed to learn to stand up for myself.
Hiro told me to change into something comfortable to move in. The staff had moved some of my stuff from the apartment into my room when I was away. I layered a sheer tank top over my sports bra and wore my leggings.
Hiro's training center was in the basement underneath his music studio. The room was plastered with mirrors on one side and padded with sound-proof foams on the rest.
The floor was made of wood and he made me wear a special thin shoe with grippy rubber sole. The equipment in this room looked more specialized than the ones in his gym.
Hiro walked in as if nothing happened. He had changed into tight-fitting white shirt and sweatpants. I had never noticed how muscular he actually was under the loose clothing he usually wore.
"Hey! My eyes are up here," he said as he prepared some tools.
"What are we doing today?" I averted my eyes off his body.
"Well, we don't have much time. So, I'll have you read a manual for basic self-defense and do basic physical training. We'll do demonstrations tomorrow," he finished wrapping his fist.
"What about you?" I grabbed the manual and flipped through it.
"I have some catching up to do," he patted his arm.