Trigger Locked: The Mind Control Assassins

Chapter 5

"Touka, I'm sorry, but this is going to be the last time we will see each other again," Shiori says to me. I don't get it. Why is she saying that we won't be seeing each other again? "What do you mean by that?" I ask her. She pauses for a while and averts her gaze away from me. What's got into her? "I'm not sure myself, but I have a feeling that we won't see each other ever again."

Before I can say anything to her, she disappears. I keep on pleading to her not to leave me behind, but she doesn't even look back. Does she mean what she says? Shiori, what happened to you? Why you suddenly say something like that? What's going on here? There are so many questions running through my mind. Shiori just leaves me in the dark without further explanation. I feel confused with her action.

When I wake up, that's when I realize that everything I've experienced is just a dream. My head is still buzzing because of my sudden reaction to the dream. As I begin to get up slowly, I realize that my body is fully bandaged. With bandage all over my body, my injury must be terrible. It feels painful when I'm moving around. I realize that I'm in my room. At least I can recognize where I am.

My mind still feels fuzzy as I'm trying to recall what happened to me last time. I can't recall what happened after that, but I do remember that I fought Momoko Sugita last time. Wait, it's not even Momoko Sugita to begin with. I was fighting against her alter ego, Mika. It feels surreal that an idol can be programmed to become an assassin. Not only that, her strength is way beyond the normal human being. Even someone like me has no chance against her.

"Sis, you're awake. I'm glad that you're okay," Yuuto says to me. He looks happy to see me. "My head hurts. How long have I been asleep?" I ask him. "Three days," he replies. It's three days, huh? That seems long to me. The last time I was unconscious was only for two days. I'm amazed that the injury doesn't tamper my memory. But it's still going to take a while for me to recover.

"What happened after I lost my consciousness?" I ask Yuuto. "Hayato and I came to get you. We were surprised to find out when we went there. The scene itself looked like a war zone. Saburo Matsuda's bodyguards were brutally murdered. It felt like I was seeing a massacre as we headed to his suite. That was when we found you, lying unconscious, with Saburo Matsuda, who was already dead. We couldn't find Momoko Sugita anywhere, though," Yuuto answers me.

I clench my fist whenever I hear about Momoko Sugita. It feels like the name itself evokes the horrible experience that I wish to forget. "I doubt that you will find her. Even if you do, she's not the same Momoko Sugita that we know," I tell Yuuto. Yuuto seems puzzled with what I say. "What do you mean by that? Was someone else there besides you and Momoko Sugita? Who killed Saburo Matsuda? I doubt you were the one who killed him," Yuuto says to me.

I don't know how to say this because I still find it hard to believe, even until now. "The one who killed Saburo Matsuda was none other than Momoko Sugita herself. She was also the one who killed the bodyguards as well." Yuuto's eyes widen. He finds it hard to believe that Momoko Sugita was the one who did those.

"How can that be possible? How come an idol like her is capable of something like that?" Yuuto asks me with a confused look. "You may not believe this, but she also has a microchip implant. And that microchip implant was the one that turned her into an assassin. Unlike the microchip implant in Dr. Hayama's body, hers is a complete mind control device. Not only that, her strength was the same as Hayato. I had no chance against her," I tell him.

Yuuto seems lost for words. "So, Satoru Yuuya is behind this?" He asks me. I nod at Yuuto. "She said it herself. What's even more terrifying," I say to him, "It was her alter ego who scolded us in the backstage back then. And it was also the same alter ego who did the killing. The real Momoko Sugita didn't even realize that she had murdered people. She didn't even realize that her alter ego existed and has taken over her."