"Well, what if he knew all along? He told me that he knows my grandfather. What if he's the reason you guys found me?"
ꨄ︎ꨄ︎ꨄ︎
Somewhere outside the district of SWORD, there is a town called Little Asia. In one of the apartment buildings there, the Amamiya Kyodai is residing.
Both Masaki and Hiroto are sitting down on one of the couches and watching the news on the television. The younger male turned off the television and stood up from his seat.
"Tomorrow..." Masaki trailed off. "...don't oversleep."
"Tell that to yourself," Hiroto rebutted and turned his back.
"Shut up. Is Yori going to come? You told her the location, right?" Masaki asked his younger brother.
"No, she already went there last week," Hiroto answered. Masaki sighed and went silent for a few seconds.
"Hey, do you think Takeru will be there tomorrow?" Masaki questioned as he took a sip of his drink.
"I don't know."
"It's already been a year since he went missing."
"All the clues we found... led to nothing," Hiroto voiced out, his back facing Masaki's.
"I hope he comes this time," Masaki spoke. Hiroto glanced at his back but then walked out of the room leaving the older Amamiya in the living room. He stepped out of the room after a few minutes of drinking.
He walked into another one as he stared at the picture sticking on the wall. It was Hiroto's birthday ten years ago. Both he and Hiyori are sitting in the middle of their parents as Takeru and Masaki are sitting across from them and near the camera.
The smiles on their parents and Hiyori brought him back to the memory.
That one rainy night completely changed their lives.
Because of that, Masaki hates the rain.
• • •
It has been five days but Hiyori is still taken aback by the events from that day.
The girl is at her apartment as she stands beside her twin-sized bed. She is staring at the check that was given to her on that day. She still couldn't believe it.
That amount of money or the fact that Amamiya Takeru gave it to her. That very same Amamiya Takeru they have been looking for.
Does her brother know she's alive? And that she's his sister?
Hiyori's mind was filled with questions that were still left unanswered.
She hasn't told Hiroto and Masaki about her encounter with Takeru. She wasn't even sure if it was him, but something tells her that it was. Call it a gut feeling or whatever. Even though the only thing that was familiar to her is the necklace that was wrapped around his neck. It was that same necklace he has when they were kids.
Hiyori flopped herself on her bed and huffed.
"What should I do with these?" she asked herself.
Suddenly, her phone rang and the girl flinched at the sound.
"Hello?" she said as she answered the call.
[Hey, where are you?] she heard Cobra from the other line and the girl immediately smiled at the sound of his voice.
"At home. Why?"
[Can you come to Itokan?]
"Sure, I am actually planning to go there, anyway."
[Alright. Talk to you later.] Cobra said and hang up. The girl frowned in confusion. It was as if he was actually hurrying her to go there.
Hiyori thought that maybe she is needed for something. Or Naomi needed help in the store.
She sighed and shrugged it off as she put the check in her drawer. She left home and walked towards the diner a few blocks away from her apartment.
After a few minutes, she twists the door of Itokan and pushed it open. She looked at the people there who shot a glance at him. She was shocked to see her two brothers and two unfamiliar girls there. At the diner.
"Well, this is unusual and really shocking," she mumbled and shook her head.
"W—What are you guys doing here?" she turned to her brothers as she frowned in confusion. Masaki sighed and approached her. The girl closed the door behind her but her eyes are still on her brothers.
She looked at Cobra who is sitting in his usual spot. The blonde didn't reply as he looked away. He thought that it would be right that her brothers would be the ones to tell her.
"Looking for our brother," Hiroto simply told her.
"Here? In Sannoh?" she asked. Well, he was there a few days ago but if he is still in the town, Hiyori will surely know.
"We're trying to open a flash drive that might lead to finding him," Masaki pointed to Noboru and to a strange woman's direction. The two are sitting with laptops in front of them. Then, her eyes went to the girl standing across from the strange woman. The girl looked at her feeling uncomfortable.
"That's Aika-chan," Masaki said. "That woman is helping Takeru in opening the flash drive a few days ago." He gestured to the woman sitting beside Noboru.
"Okay?" Hiyori muttered still unsure of what's been going on.
"Hiyori's our little sister," Masaki told Aika. The girl just nodded and looked at Hiyori as she gave her a small nod of acknowledgment.
"How did you meet them?" Hiyori asked Aika. She was about to answer when Masaki spoke.
"She's been crashing into Takeru's apartment. I thought she was aniki's girlfriend but she said she was not, although I don't bel—" Hiyori grabbed Masaki by his shirt and covered his mouth using her free hand.
"Shut up," she grumbled then looked at Aika and nodded for her to talk. "Don't mind him, go on and talk."
Then the young girl explained why she's living with Takeru for a week now. Her father told her to run away and gave her the flash drive before the men came to her home. Ever since then, guys in white suits are trying to chase her down until Takeru saved her.
"Guys in white suits?" Hiyori questioned as she finally let go of Masaki. The older Amamiya grumbled to his breath saying that she should respect him because he's older but Hiyori ignored her.
"Yeah, they're part of Kuryu, the Kamizono Family," Aika nodded. Hiyori sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She sat down on a seat across from Cobra.
"So Takeru-nii just disappeared a week ago?" Hiyori asked as she tried to fully digest all the information.
"Well, according to her, yes," Hiroto spoke. She looked at her brothers and shook her head.
"I've met him five days ago," she voiced. Her brothers and Aika snapped their heads towards her.
"Who?" Masaki asked.
"Takeru-nii."
"You what?!" Hiroto exclaimed making the girl roll her eyes.
"He was there when I visited grandpa's grave. I didn't know it was him at first. He handed me a check and disappeared before I realized that it was him," she explained.
"A check?" Masaki frowned.
Hiyori nodded, "Yeah, a hundred thousand yen."
The siblings looked at each other as if thinking the same thing.
"How did he know you're alive?" Hiroto asked. Both Masaki and Hiyori were thinking the same thing.
"Well, what if he knew all along? He told me that he knows my grandfather. What if he's the reason you guys found me?"
"You're saying the leads that we got came from him?" Masaki questioned.
"Probably," Hiyori gave a frustrated sigh. "I don't know."
They went silent for a few seconds as Hiyori peeked toward Noboru's back to see what the two hackers are doing.
She snapped her head towards the front door when the bell chimed signaling that someone entered. It was Yamato.
"Damn, it's dark! Turn on the lights, old hag," Yamato said completely oblivious of the other people in the room. Dan, Tetsu, and Chiharu are sitting at the barstool while eating. The trio looked at him. As well as Nikka who is standing behind Naomi.
"Shut up," Naomi answered as he pointed the people across the room. Yamato finally noticed them. His eyes completely went to Hiyori's brothers.
Hiyori looked at her childhood friend's reaction as she bit her bottom lip.
This is not good.
"What the hell are you guys doing here?" he questioned.
"Yamato," Hiyori called but was completely ignored as the said male walked towards Hiroto.
"What do the Amamiya Kyodai want here?" Hiroto stood up and faced him. Hiyori looked at Cobra for help.
"Yamato," he called. "Drop it."
"Hiro-nii," Hiyori called for her brother. Masaki put a hand on her shoulder as he lightly squeezed it.
"It seems like Kuryu is involved," Dan decided to speak.
"Kuryu?" Yamato questioned as Hiroto is still glaring at him.
"The flash drive may contain some info that could destroy them," Chiharu said as he walked towards Noboru and stood beside him.
"If we do nothing, there could be more victims," Noboru added. "We have to do something."
Yamato looked at him and sighed as he was still facing Hiroto. Yamato glanced at Hiroto and then kicked the chair beside him through gritted teeth.
"Sorry. We're leaving," Masaki spoke. Hiyori snapped her head towards her brother with a frown on her face. "Let's go, Aika-chan."
Masaki patted Hiyori's head as he walked past her.
"Amamiya," Cobra called before they completely leave. They stopped as they glanced at the blonde. He stood up from his seat and walked forward, stopping a few inches away from them.
"We owe you guys," he said. "Now we're even."
Masaki smirked amusingly as he walked towards Cobra. He put his hand on his shoulder.
"You don't owe us anything," Masaki said. He patted Cobra's shoulder and turned to Hiyori.
"Call us if they're done," Masaki told her with a smile.
"Where are you guys going?" Hiyori asked. Masaki just shrugged and walked towards the front door. The girl looked at Hiroto and the latter just nodded. Aika just lightly bowed and gave her a small smile as they completely left.
Hiyori let out a sigh and looked at Cobra. The latter took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled as she felt a bit more relaxed with his touch.
---
I think I've watched HiLo movies multiple times now since the start of quarantine. And I just recently found out that Red Rain filmed in my home country, Philippines.
That church at the first part was actually Manila Cathedral and it was like a few miles away from where I'm living.
I didn't know about it until I read some comments on Facebook. T^T
I was so shocked and at the same time, it made me want to visit Manila Cathedral! I haven't been there that's why I didn't notice. But lol, it's so near!
Anyway, to my Filipino readers, if there's any, hello! ( ꈍᴗꈍ)