The Ransom Unpaid

Chapter 1: Sunrise

3:21 P.M.
Tokyo, Japan
Hiroshi Corporate HQ

"Sir! Sir!" Riko, Akito Hiroshi's assistant, ran towards her Boss's office, hair ruffled and missing one shoe. She burst open the door, panting once she reached. "Sir-" She gulped, -"Your daughter. She- she has been kidnapped on the way from school!" She looked up to see her Boss glancing towards her un-amused. The guest sitting across from him looked at her, not sure how to react.

"Mr. Tachibana," Akito began, in a calm, polite voice, as if his daughter had not just been kidnapped, "I'm very sorry that this meeting is going to have to cut short for tonight."

"Oh- no- no- please don't apologize," the middle-aged man stood up from his seat, flailing his hands defensively, "This is much more important." He hurriedly collected his things from Akito's dark wood office desk before bowing a deep 90 degree bow.

"I'll give you updates if there is any," Akito said, his affirmative voice not faltering. Mr. Tachibana frantically went out, stopping only to give a short bow to Riko. She reciprocated the bow awkwardly. "Miss Riko, please sit." Akito gestured towards the chair which the guest had been previously sitting on after he had left the room.

Riko limped towards the seat awkwardly due to her lost black pencil-heel shoe, her files which she deemed important for the case still held tightly to her chest. Her tight grip wasn't really helpful because a few papers had already fallen out on the way to Akito's fancy office room.

"Sir," she attempted to begin as she sat, not knowing where to start. "It all happened in a span of 30 minutes, it was all so quick. Miss Harui came out of the school gates with her friends and- and they somehow knew that we weren't on duty today and they-they," her tears started watering. She had gotten this job only a few months ago and now she was going to get fired because she wasn't able to do a simple task that she was entrusted with, not to mention that someone's life was at risk. Her voice got stuck in her throat.

"Miss Riko," Akito said in a calm tone, removing his spectacles and placing it on his desk. "I know you are extremely stressed right now but before you do anything, you have to calm down." He picked up his office landline phone and dialled a 4-digit number then he held it against his right ear.

The landline phone of Manami Nishida rang on her office desk, startling her for a second and distracting her from the juicy gossip that her friend, Yui was telling her about what she found out about Kabuto's ex. She excused herself and picked up the phone. "Yes, Boss?"

"Manami?" His voice coming from the landline rang through her ear.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Can you please bring two cups of tea for Miss Riko and me? The chamomile one, please,"

"Sure, Boss," Manami assured, after-which Akito hung up.

"Do you want some tissue?" Akito asked, gesturing his palm towards the tissue box at the corner of his desk.

"If I may, sir," Riko managed to say. Akito handed her the box. She immediately took out multiple tissues and blew her nose on it. The second batch, she used to dry up her messed-up mascara.

The two heard a knock on the door. "Tea," Manami said in a monotone voice as she entered carrying a tray with two glass cups of fresh, hot chamomile tea. The other employees looking into the tiny opening of their Boss's door hurriedly went back to work when they saw that their Boss might've seen them. Manami set down the tray on Akito's desk, earning a small 'thank you' from both Riko and Akito, and gave a small bow before leaving her Boss's office. Right after she had closed the door behind her, Manami was bomb-barded with questions.

Oblivious to the situation outside, Akito and Riko continued their conversation. "So, what happened?" Akito asked before he took a sip of his favourite flavour of green tea. One thing that Riko really admired about her Boss was his ability to stay calm and assess situations but right now, she was questioning what kind of father he was.

She took a sip form her cup as well. "So," she began from the beginning. "As you may already know, Boss, we usually don't watch over Miss Harui on Thursdays as she has after-school Maths cram school." Akito nodded knowingly. "Anyway, the people who kidnapped her somehow got the information that we don't watch her on Thursdays and used it to their advantage by grabbing her right after she came out of the school gates."

"In front of all those people?" Akito asked, suspiciously.

"Yes, Sir. We suspect it might be a small Yakuza group that is doing this all for the sake of publicity."

Akito took another sip, "Continue."

"We got a call exactly 6 minutes after the kidnapping took place and they informed us that they want 65 million dollars by sunrise tomorrow, which will happen around 6 A.M tomorrow."

"They're pretty poetic, don't you think?" Akito said, looking a little dazed. "Sunrise..."

"Sir? I'm not sure I understand what you mean." Riko admitted, a little shocked at Akito's easy-going behaviour during the disappearance of his daughter.

"Anyhow, Riko," Akito leaned in intently on his desk, looking into Riko's eyes, "Why didn't you tell the police?"

"Because, Sir," Riko answered, "You informed me before I began my work that things like this should be known by you first."

"Bingo, correct answer!" Akito exclaimed as he leaned back on his chair, a slightly satisfied smile on his face. "Oh, you were saying, Riko? About the criminals? What more information do you have on them?"

"The private investigator that you hired last year has come in handy as he has identified the criminals." She handed him 7 pieces of paper from her oddly huge file pile on her lap. Akito put on his glasses and opened up the first page, looking at it intently, reading every single Kanji letter with massive concentration.

"The police should never know about this." He said, flipping through the other pages, never once looking back at Riko. "Harui can handle it." He set the files onto his table. "They seem like a bunch of amateurs."

"Sir," Riko objected, "I'm sorry if this may sound offensive but how can you stay so calm after Miss Harui just got kidnapped and we have no idea where she is. Sir, she may be mature but she is still 16 years old."

"Riko," Akito's forever-calm voice still not faltered, "Harui is fully capable of taking care of herself. She knows that being the daughter of a billionaire is bound to come with situations like this. In fact, this is not her first time being kidnapped. Since you are fairly new, I know that you may have concerns and I apologize for not informing you about this before. Long story short, Harui has been... experienced in these things. You need not worry about her. I assure you, she'll be fine."

He stood up, Riko awkwardly following suit, "Prepare dinner for the entire family tonight. I believe Harui already knows the time and won't be late to such an important family event," he looked at the custom-made watch on his wrist, "In the meantime, you should get ready as well. Can't have my assistant looking like a Great Dane dragged her through the park, can I?" He walked out with a satisfied grin because of his witty remark.

As soon as he walked out Riko's legs gave out and she plopped on the chair, not sure what to do. Sure, Sir said to prepare for the family dinner but she couldn't do that when Harui could be in a cell somewhere, tied up. Riko took out her phone and contacted Makoto, the head of the security team for the Hiroshi family. "Makoto-san? I need your help."