Chapter 314 - My child will die

With his younger brother on his l.a.p, Yuta is sitting on the wheelchair and keeping a watch on the girls playing under the tree. The weather is rather good today, and he is an unofficial babysitter. 

The girls are rather cheerful. Honoka keeps trying to speak to Yuta who ignores her as if she is air. He is rather upset. His uncle is getting married, and his mother is at work. There have been some problems with Re: Games. The launch date of the new game is postponed. 

They don't say it, but he knows that his parents are trying to find out about the book. His father is looking into some videos. They aren't telling him anything because he is sick. 

He is not sick. Yuta is sure that he was poisoned because his paralysis is going away with time. He can move his arms and upper body now. However, his legs are still weak. By tomorrow morning, he should be able to walk. 

The book must have contained some secret poisons.

He knows about poisons. It's one of the best tools for an assassin. But he still can't figure out the strange poison. When he was asleep for ten days, he had a vivid dream. The dream felt so real.

Yuta glances at Aerie. The real Valerie is so much different from Aerie. 

Perhaps, Aerie might grow up as a different person if she doesn't recover her memories.

If only. 

He sees his father marching towards his direction with the head maid is trailing behind him. 

His father stops in front of him. "Your uncle is in trouble." 

Aerie and Honoka become still. They look at Kamiyama Kiyohira. 

Even baby Sho gazes at his father with a clueless expression.

"Take them inside." Kamiyama Kiyohira signals the head maid. "Don't let them out of their room. Keep a watch on them."

"Yes, Master." 

The head maid takes Sho in her arms and hurries the girls back to the house.

"What happened?" Yuta asks his father solemnly.

"A suicide bomber." Kamiyama Kiyohira tells him in an urgent tone, "Takeshi and Iori are inside a restaurant with a suicide bomber. The crazy man is killing people one by one. He is demanding to see Rie."

Kiyohira has an inkling that Rie might do it. She is impulsive. Why did he allow her to go to work? 

She wanted to check the progress of the new game that Ren was working on. He couldn't go because he was looking at the surveillance videos that Takeshi gave him. He shouldn't have let her get out of the house. 

No, he can't make the same mistake. He can't put her inside a cage to protect her. 

Maybe he is overthinking. Maybe she is stuck in the traffic or something happened to her phone. There are endless possibilities. 

Yuta purses his lips. Why?

"Imamura is looking into the man's background." Kamiyama Kiyohira says to him, "I can't contact your mother."

"What?" Yuta stands up abruptly. His knees wobble and he staggers forward. His father grabs Yuta's shoulders. 

"I called Ren." Kiyohira whispers, "He said that Rie left around thirty minutes ago. She should be heading back home."

He pinches his lips together. Did the terrorist call his mother?

"We need to go to the place where Uncle Takeshi is." Yuta looks up at his father. "She might have gone there."

Kamiyama Kiyohira doesn't want Yuta's words to come true.

***

Umezaki Rie stares at her phone screen. The screen is black and the phone is dead.

Re Games office isn't far from her home. But there is huge traffic today. Ambulances and police cars are rushing toward someplace. She wonders what happened.

The vehicles are moving at one inch per fifteen minutes. At this rate, Rie will not reach home. 

It's not like she has any choice. 

Someone knocks on her car window. Umezaki Rie sees a woman standing next to her car.

It takes her a few moments to recognise the woman. When she realises who it is, Rie widens her eyes. The woman is her adopted father's ex-wife.

Rie hasn't expected to see her after such a long time. In fact, it's been more than two decades. 

Her adopted father left her after her adopted mother married Kamiyama Kiyohira's father. Takeuchi Seiji married this woman who was also her adopted mother's best friend.

Midori's hair is a mess; she's wearing faded and old clothes. The collar of her coat is torn, and the third button is missing. What kind of life did Midori live? 

Rie did hear about them from Kiyohira after her return. All she knows is that Midori and Takeuchi Seiji got a divorce. But they didn't return to J Country. Her husband had kept a track on Takeuchi Seiji and his wife for a while.

Rie presses the button to unlock the car and beckons the woman to come inside the car.

Midori, Takeuchi Seiji's ex-wife, enters the car. She sits on the passenger seat.

"Rie, please help me." Midori sobs, "My child is in that restaurant."

"Restaurant?" Rie furrows her brows. Midori has three children with Takeuchi Seiji; however, Rie doesn't know much about them. "What happened?"

"They are all held inside the restaurant by a man who is threatening to kill everyone if he doesn't meet you." Midori falters, "My children will die…"

Rie pales when she hears that. Why does a terrorist want to meet her? "Who is the man?"

"I don't know." Midori covers her face with her hands and weeps miserably. "If you don't help me, my children will die."

For a moment, Rie doesn't want to help her. When she was suffering, this woman or Takeuchi Seiji didn't even look at her. Her school life is a horrible memory for her. Even now, there are times when she wakes up from the nightmares in the middle of the night. Kiyohira does his best to understand her. Though her phobia about eating in front of other people is gone and her bullies are dead, the past isn't forgotten. 

Though she had made Chisa Hashimoto go through the same things that she went through under her hands, it didn't take away the memories. 

But she can't say no to this woman. Her children aren't at fault. Umezaki Rie doesn't want them to die because of her.