The unmistakable sound of debris crackling filled the air as the dark blue R34 slowed down with style.
"Ugh—" He held his mouth, ready to vomit.
Aqua's head was spinning, and he didn't even have an appetite for that cheeseburger anymore.
"No, no. Don't throw up in my car," Minoru said as he stepped out of the car.
With trembling hands, Aqua quickly disconnected the five-point seatbelt that hugged him. His gaze was blurred as he found the door handle. Click! He got out with a thud, crashing to the ground before vomiting.
"I wonder where that spirit has gone," Minoru, leaning on the car, lit up his cigarette and asked Aqua without even looking, "You sure want to kill someone?"
What he meant was: Aqua, you're weak.
And the boy understood the unspoken message as he gazed at the ground with his vomit there.
"Why? Uhuk!" Aqua wiped his drool as he got up. "Why is it wrong for me to get angry? This is my pride as a man. Do you think I'll stand aside, knowing the culprit is living a quiet life somewhere?"
With his gaze fixed on Tokyo's bright night, Minoru said, "Men will never achieve anything when driven by uncontrolled rage." He exhaled smoke, emphasizing, "Rage is fuel that needs to be controlled by a clear mind and patience. I won't give examples. There are many examples of men falling and gaining nothing because of their uncontrolled rage."
Aqua watched Minoru's back as the wind fluttered his silver hair as he asked, "Then what should I do now?"
"Continue with your life and don't forget what just happened. You have a mother and sister to take care of now. I understand that you're angry, but..." Minoru closed his eyes, inhaling the smoke before exhaling it. "...You no longer have an enemy."
"I don't have an enemy?"
"You have no enemy."
Aqua clenched his fist as he absorbed Minoru's words.
Logically, Aqua was aware of Minoru's wealth and guessed that he had many ways to eliminate the culprit quietly. He couldn't accept how helpless he was.
"Did you... really kill him?"
Minoru remained silent.
"Just who are you, anyway?"
"Does it matter? I've already explained—"
"Batman. What I'm trying to ask. Who are you literally? It's been a month since Mom almost got killed. By this alone, that means you got rid of the mastermind in less than a month? Even the police... they can't do such a thing. Let's not forget the stalker named Kihara Ryosuke..."
He recalled that day when he saw Minoru closing Ai's ex-apartment door with an emotionless face and Ryosuke by his side.
Aqua connected the dots, suspicious of someone who could eliminate the culprit quietly and act as carefree as Minoru did.
Aqua squinted at Minoru. "The police found Ryosuke's lifeless body and ruled it as suicide. But I doubt it, and my doubt grows if the mastermind is dead, as you said. Therefore..."
Aqua stared at the silver-haired man, clearly doubting his dad's identity. He wouldn't let this slide. "What are you?"
Minoru nonchalantly opened his ashtray, extinguishing the cigarette until it lost its embers.
"You sound like an officer extracting information from a criminal. Did you pick that up from a novel? But I wonder if my son is an actual genius or..." Minoru locked his left red eye onto Aqua. "...even beyond that."
Aqua felt a chill as Minoru's gaze alone made the gravity around him heavier.
But what made Aqua nervous were his last words. Minoru was already in front of him, and Aqua couldn't read his face at all or figure out how he should react.
Even beyond that.
Minoru had always been curious about the uniqueness of his children. Initially, he accepted their genius status might be due to his lineage. However, over time, he observed them closely and became a bit suspicious.
Aqua sweated bullets under Minoru's crimson eyes.
He had always been prepared for this. The thought had crossed his mind countless times that his parents would eventually discover something unusual about their children.
Unlike him, Sarina wouldn't get caught, being the innocent kid she was. He was confident that Minoru and Ai would never grow too suspicious of Ruby.
However, Aqua's case was far different than Sarina's; he was an adult, a responsible doctor who had passed away before Ai gave birth to her twins, and somehow, he had reincarnated as her son. Aqua couldn't be as pure as Ruby.
Aqua knew Minoru was different from Ai.
He had learned a bit about his dad—Yanagi Minoru was a name on a Japanese passport, but it was overshadowed by his other identity, James Moriarty. Aqua delved into the internet and discovered that his dad was a young genius who earned his Ph.D. in his teens. He even knew that Minoru was often referred to as Professor Moriarty.
He couldn't compare his past life to Minoru.
But with this... Aqua knew he couldn't fool a man like him.
"I... I... I'm, uh..."
Aqua shuttering, unable to confess.
He thought he was prepared, but he wasn't. Aqua couldn't fathom Ai's reaction to the revelation that her son was not what she thought.
Humans and their curiosity.
"Aqua..." Minoru observed the pale boy below and decided to end the conversation, "Let's—?"
He stopped, hearing the loud revving engine approaching this remote place. He remembered those cars as he smocked them.
"Get in the car."
It wasn't a suggestion; it was an order.
Aqua snapped back to his senses, gazing at Minoru's poker face. A chill ran down his spine. "Ah-yes..."
Aqua rushed to the car without question, and soon enough, the owners of the cars stepped out.
"Huh? It turns out to be... Yanagi-sensei. Hahaha! I never thought you'd be driving, besides riding a horse like an imaginary prince, heh." said a teenager with dyed-blonde hair, a trained physique, and a red tracksuit.
"Yamamoto Masa and the others..." Minoru gazed at them, maintaining his poker face. "...is this how you treat people? I'm sure you didn't come here to invite me to play baseball with that... barbed wire bat."
Ryuju Momo's underlings—the ones he had beaten and taken the bike keys from as a disciplinary action. Meanwhile, Aqua observed from inside the car as Minoru stood alone against the armed naughty teenager.
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A/N:
Morning. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.