222 Old enough to shoot people

kiyohira waits for him to explain his words. 

"bring her to our family." yuta stammers. will his father agree? the idea is crazy. but she needs a normal place. he's sure that his parents won't treat her badly. besides, he wants her to grow up in a place where she's not abused and deformed by other people. if he doesn't change things, she will become the same woman who only knew pain and suffering  

"only you can do this. her parents and grandfather are abusing her. her mother needs help. daniel nagasawa is not her biological father. he is probably someone from the consortium who is sent here to raise heir. if you use the law and make a big deal about it in the media, i am sure that the consortium won't come forward. they will keep watch and wait for her to grow up. until then, we will have time. i will think of something."

he needs something substantial to convince his father. he inhales the cold air. 

"maddox won't harm mother if she becomes involved with one of the heirs. it's one of the laws of consortium before the battle for the throne begins. if an heir cares about someone, that person cannot be touched by anyone else from the consortium other than the royalty. right now, we need to get her out of that place. that man will sculpt her into a person who will… "

yuta closes his mouth. even if the world was apathetic to icarus' demise, the sun wasn't. 

"taking her away from kirishima family won't be difficult," kiyohira speaks after a long silence. his son is also someone else who loses himself in emotions for people he cares about. he and his wife were already planning to save the girl, but his wife might not accept mira if she finds out that mira killed yuta in another life. 

"though someone from the consortium might come forward, they can't make a direct move because of the current power in the underworld. i was planning to talk daniel nagasawa about her, but i changed my mind after hearing you."

he pauses for a moment. "however, there's something that you should know."

"what is it?" yuta inquires with anxiety. perhaps, he shouldn't have let mira go with daniel nagasawa. what will happen now?  he has no idea about mira's life except for the time she spent with him. everything that she told him about her family was a lie. 

"yuki kirishima was her twin. he died at the age of two." kiyohira lets out a heavy sigh. "ayaka kirishima became unstable after her son's death. she started to think that mira is yuki. this is the reason why mira is living yuki's life."

in that photograph, that toddler in daniel's arms was yuki then. yuta is not surprised. in mira's house, he did see pictures of yuki and mira. but it was arranged in a way that gave an illusion that yuki and mira were the same. 

"it will take some to gather the evidence that she's being abused." kiyohira takes yuta's hand. "don't make that face. we will save her."

after hearing his assurance, yuta's heart eases down. he looks in the direction in which the car disappeared to. since the relationship between mira and daniel nagasawa is good, it should be fine for a few days. 

***

the boy stares at the door for a moment. in his left hand, he's holding a large wooden case. he fixes his coat before he pushes the door open and then, he steps into the house, not making a sound. 

"you are back." maddox looks over his shoulder. "sit down and have some beer with me."

yuan bo stares a bottle of grape juice on the table. maddox takes a sip of beer from his glass. yuan bo wrinkles his nose and clicks his tongue. "brother, i am old enough to shoot people, but i am not old enough to drink real beer."

"a sniper shouldn't drink or eat anything that might take away your ability to think rationally." maddox winks at him. "you did a splendid job."

he puts the case on the table and walks toward maddox with a questioning frown on his face. "why did you stop me from killing that man? since we already know where she is, isn't it better to kill her straight away?  i don't think that she would ever change her mind and come to your side. you don't need someone like her. rather, i suggest that we kill her family right in front of her eyes before ending her life."

the corners of maddox's eyes creases when he laughs. yuan bo knits his brows. did he say something funny? 

"you are right. it's not possible anymore. even if she changes her mind, i cannot bring her to my side." maddox tosses an envelope to yuan bo. "we made a small miscalculation. perhaps, it was meant to be this way. we can no longer touch her."

yuan bo takes out the letter. he gnashes his teeth. the letter is from the regent of the consortium. the names like umezaki rie, kamiyama kiyohira, and kamiyama yuta are in the list. damn! 

"if i had known that daniel was hiding dionne's granddaughter in that place, i would have killed rie by my hands before she left. i would have burned that man and the little boy alive." maddox's eyes become darker. he didn't see this coming. is it fate? what a joke! then, umezaki rie was meant to be his enemy from the beginning. 

"daniel is already training that child. more people are on the child's side because she's dionne's blood. at this rate, there won't be any battle. i don't want rie to become my enemy yet. there is some chance that she might come to our side if she hears that her son might become one of the sacrifices of the heir. that's why i asked you not to kill ren. he isn't significant anyway. a woman like her will go to any extent for her son."

yuan bo utters with a quiet voice, "are you sure that you want her because she can be a useful tool for your daughter? is it not because you hate seeing her with someone else?"