"Why didn't I think of that?" Megumi said as she clicked on her cell phone.
Akemi and Yui turned to look at each other and shrugged. "What's this about now?" the tall girl asked.
"I could have interviewed Shimada-san. Now... Shimada-Girl99 has struck. And she even uploaded selfies." Annoyed, the redhead scrolled through the pictures liking each of them. "Oh... your sister is on them too."
"Really?" Yui leaned over to make sure. "Ah... this is Hikari, her best friend."
"Man... couldn't you have brought me together with him?" The glasses wearer looked at her friend reproachfully.
"He's my sister's boyfriend, not mine." The blonde didn't have the slightest desire to talk about them. "Can we leave the subject?" Akemi looked silently over.
"Man, you're bitchy today. Did you get your period?"
"Just spare me with your trash talk, okay? Did you do the homework?"
Amused, the girl from the swim team snorted. "Not her."
"Yesterday Durarara ran," Megumi fought off.
"That's only thirty minutes. After that, you can still do homework." Yui worried a bit about her friend's grades because she was really bad at school. She was afraid that Megumi would eventually become a NEET.
"Don't worry. My grades are almost sufficient. I can do that."
"Have you ever thought about joining the swim team, Yui-chan?" Akemi asked.
"I don't think that's for me."
Actually, the Masuda sister liked to swim, but right now there were more important things to do. She was at a dead end with her investigation into Yoshiro's death, and the disagreements with her sister continued. For example, yesterday they hadn't seen each other. Yuna had probably been to Hikari, or elsewhere, and then she went straight back to Wataru.
It hurt Yui that they had this quarrel, but if her sister was so relentless, then the younger one had to be hard too. Anyway, she had used her time last night to study the will of her deceased uncle. She would have liked to drive to Yoshiro's property to have a look, but she would rather not go on this trip alone.
Instead, she had picked out another object that had sparked her interest. Yuna had once mentioned that the items from their old house had been lodged by Yoshiro in a warehouse. In the testament, there was a large property that contained several warehouses. She wanted to take a look around after school.
The blonde got out of the tram and checked her position with her cell phone. She looked along the road and started walking. After several blocks, she turned left, and soon the first warehouses and factories appeared.
After a few minutes she reached a property, which was fenced but had no access gate. The whole forecourt was covered with gravel. The ground crunched as she set her foot on it. It smelled of stone and dust. She looked at a large building that loomed in front of her. She noticed that nowhere was a name written. Very unusual. In addition, nothing moved on the entire area. No people, no vans or trucks, nothing. Again she let her eyes wander and saw two more warehouses that were a bit smaller.
Yui first decided to inspect the largest building. She walked to the front door and tried to open it. Locked.
Great. Where can I find a key?
She scanned the area around the door, but didn't notice where a key could have been deposited. She took a few steps back and peered at the other warehouses. Had Yuna ever been here? Where were their things?
Her cell phone rang. "Yes?" the middle-school student asked as she walked around the warehouse.
"Hey, Yui-chan. I wanted to ask how things are with you."
"Everything is all right, Midori-san. Didn't Yuna call you?" With her purple eyes, the girl searched the facade.
"No. I was a bit worried but didn't want to annoy you. Do you need anything?"
The blonde spotted a side door, whereupon she moved quickly over. "Everything's okay. Are you alright?"
"I'm pretty nauseous, but I'm fine." For a moment the nurse was silent, while Yui reached the door. "Um... that sounds weird, but would you like to do something tomorrow? I have my day off and thought maybe we could get to know each other better."
"What do you want to do?" The girl squeezed the latch and the door opened. Astonished, she gasped.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah yeah. I almost ran into someone," Yui explained.
"Where are you then?"
"On the way home. I was having a drink with my friends." The middle-school student looked around, then slipped into the building. "Hey, can I call you back when I'm home? I just boarded the tram."
"Yeah, sure. Talk to you later."
"Thanks, Midori-san." Yui broke the connection and put her phone back in her skirt pocket.
Let's see.
She groped the wall until she found a light switch. She used it, and some neon lights on the ceiling turned on. She took a short look, then walked along the corridor. Behind a door she discovered a small, dusty office, which apparently was no longer used. It was followed by a broom closet, before she opened a door behind which was a large storage room. Daylight entered through the ceiling windows.
Stacked boxes made of wood, metal and plastic were scattered everywhere. She deposited her backpack next to the door on the wall, then slipped between the objects until she found a table with two benches.
Yui once turned on her own axis to get an overview. On top of one of the boxes she discovered a sniper rifle, which was standing on its legs. Surprised, she jumped back. The possession of weapons was forbidden in Japan. Where did this thing come from? Timidly she went over and examined the rifle. Did it belong to Yoshiro? What was he doing with it?
Her eyes slid over the boxes. What was all this stuff here? She opened the closest box and recoiled. Various pistols were stored in it. Immediately she looked around again. Was this really a weapons storage? She closed the box quickly and walked on.
Her eyes fell on a sofa that stood near the table. As she approached the furniture, she noticed bloodstains that were on the fabric as well as on the floor in front of it.
Oh my God.
She backed away. Goosebumps overcame the girl as she mused on her surroundings. Had her uncle really been an arms dealer? A criminal? She remembered his face. His warm smile and the always lively glance in his eyes. There was so much that she didn't know about him.
With whom could she talk about her discovery? What did Yuna know? Now that she thought about it, they should not even have the Katana in the pension because they didn't have a weapon license for it. Was Yoshiro possibly murdered by dissatisfied business partners? Suddenly Yui wasn't sure if she really wanted to know what her sister was doing at night.
Was she perhaps drawn into this matter and now had to continue the business of Yoshiro? Was that the reason they were chosen as heirs?
After taking some time to think, the middle-school student decided that it would be more useful to keep some of the assets from the heritage for themselves, so that they would be save for the future. Her sister and her guardian were right about that. It didn't help anyone if they gave everything away.
Her eyes fell on a makeshift office. She scurried over and scanned a pile of newspaper clippings and a map of the city, which was marked.
Missing person. Lair.
The blonde noticed numbers on the map that matched numbers on newspaper articles. What was this about? What had she stumbled upon? Unable to figure out the information, Yui left the office and walked back to the table. She saw a deep notch in the tabletop, as if someone had rammed a knife into it.
Surprised, she breathed in, when she recognized a photo that came from her family. She walked to a shelf where it was pinned to the frame. Mai was sitting between her and Yuna, obviously wanting something from her oldest sister, while Yui was holding little Ayu in her arms and grinning at the camera.
My sisters.
The middle-school student's throat tightened and tears rose in her eyes, as she remembered the day of this recording. Yuna had been pissed off, because she had planned an Hetalia marathon with Hikari, but her parents forced her to go to the park with the rest of her family to spend some time together. They had been playing with father and Mai while their mother was taking care of Ayu and prepared the picnic. Why was this picture here? Yui wiped away the tears and wanted to reach for the picture.
"Huh? Did I leave the lights on last time?" she heard very softly. Startled, the middle-school student spun around and stared at the door through which she had entered. Frantically she looked around for a hiding place, scurried over to a stack of boxes and squeezed herself between the boxes and the wall. Her backpack! Icy coldness ran down the blonde's back. If the visitor noticed her backpack, he would have to suspect another person here. Her heart was racing, but she had to force herself to breathe slowly and evenly.
The sound of footsteps reached her ear. Yui was pretty sure it was a man's steps. The person unlocked a box and opened it. After that, the girl heard a strange, high clatter. She dared to peek out from behind her crate, but couldn't see anyone. She turned her head to the other side and cautiously moved along the wall until she reached the edge.
Again she peeked out and saw a man with short, dark brown hair picking up small metal objects from a box and pressing them into an elongated pole. Each charge made a faint click. He wore a jacket, which surprised her because of the heat outside. When he was apparently finished, he stowed the pole in the inner compartment of his jacket, closed the box and turned away. The blonde backed away, sweat trickling down her temples. Again she prayed that her backpack would not attract attention. The man left, and the door clicked.
Trembling, the girl remained in her hiding place and counted in her head. When she had waited three hundred seconds, she dared to finally come out of hiding. Alerted, she waited beside the stack of boxes and listened. Although her instinct suggested a quick escape, Yui pulled herself together and walked over to the box the man had opened. She unlocked it and took a look. She was not wrong. He had loaded a magazine here.
So it was clear that this was a weapons storage, and it was still in use. She wondered again what Yoshiro, or even her sister, had to deal with. Actually, it was her civic duty to report this discovery to the police immediately, but since she didn't know the background, this seemed too risky.
The middle-school student had intended to check the other warehouses too, but if more people showed up, it would definitely be too dangerous. Instead, she pondered about a possible trick to satisfy her curiosity.