𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ★彡[ᴀʟʜᴀɪᴛʜᴀᴍ]彡★

𝟐𝟓 - 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐙𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

 The following day, I scheduled a meeting with Kamisato Ayato to discuss the overall situation with him. Thankfully, he agreed without pushback. We ended up agreeing to meet at a small conspicuous cafe towards the exterior of the city.

"Good afternoon," he sat down in the chair across from me. As always, Ayato was clad in a tuxedo, this time being a black one with a blue-checkered tie. His hair was neatly made to avoid strands falling in front of his face while maintaining a more casual feel. One of the thoughts I had after meeting him was how nice it must be to have such smooth hair.

"Good afternoon," I returned his greeting. "I wanted to apologize to you. It was unprofessional of me to ask you to let me enter the crime scene when I'm a potential suspect in the case."

Ayato's expression remained the same, but he gave a gentle smile as reassurance. "There's no need to apologize. I understand that you were dealing with a lot of intense emotions, so I wouldn't hold something like that against you. Along with that, I asked the head detective Shikanoin Heizou if he would permit you to aid in the investigation, and he didn't seem to be wholly against it, although he still remains somewhat unconvinced. I would suggest waiting a little longer before contacting anyone. I wouldn't get involved with this at all. Doing so will only lead to more pain in the end."

I nodded, trying to shove down my disappointment.

"I understand how hard it is to not be able to partake in the investigation," Ayato continued, "my family is also of utmost importance to me. For now, place your trust in those involved to solve this case. I fear that your safety may be at risk, as you are the victim's daughter. If the perpetrator could take your father, there's no doubt he could do the same to you. I suggest you exercise caution from here on out."

"Thank you, Ayato." With his words, I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. "I really hope they can find out what happened to my father."

Ayato gave a small dip of his head. "I am sure that everything will go according to plan. Shikanoin is a very talented detective, despite his rather... casual demeanor.

"Have you worked with him before?"

"On a few occasions. Shikanoin seems to have a lot of curiosity when it comes to scams in particular, so he once met with me to discuss a pump-and-dump issue that was occurring."
"Pump-and-dump?" I tilted my head at the strange name.

"Yes, this was several months after it had taken the case as well." Ayato received a large-sized boba from the waitress before continuing his story. "I was curious as to why he seemed so fixated on it, but it seemed that he was just curious to gain more information on scams in the stock market." He put the straw to his lips and sipped his boba. "It's nice to see that there are still people these days who are passionate about their field."

"Yeah, that's a commodity in modern society," I let out a small laugh. "Well, if he is that well-versed, I'm grateful he's the one in charge of the case. I know that Alhaitham was slightly skeptical of him after the interrogation he had with us." Talking about my boss made me recall what had happened after the interrogation... I genuinely had no idea where all that self-confidence came from. Most people have had a moment in their life where they do something bold and then afterward just brood it over questioning why you decided to do it and yesterday was just that! I let out a sigh.