Akira sighed as she held her phone to her left ear while scrolling through a list of movies on the TV. It was already late in the night, but Kaito had not returned. She was not waiting for him, but she did not feel sleepy.
Furthermore, her mother had called her yet again.
"Mom, I am fine. I just have to take care of my friend for a few days." She said.
"Doesn't that person have other friends? I feel a little worried about how things were left off." Sayaka responded.
Akira knew that her mother was probably afraid that she would not return to Mountain Ridge after that incident. Even though she reassured the older woman that she did not take the butler's actions to heart, Sayaka still called multiple times during the day.
She was on the verge of blacklisting her again.
"We will be opening Elements on Friday evening. I have to be there to cook, so you can rest ȧssured." Akira paused. "I will also go to visit grandmother and grandfather on Saturday. We can clear up the misunderstandings."
"You don't have to push yourself. We will be on your side regardless." Sayaka did not want Akira to be under pressure.
Akira did not plan on getting friendly with her grandmother and grandfather. However, it was inevitable since things had already escalated. Also, she did not want that Makiko to win. Her aunt's insistence on going against her was not comprehensible.
"I know. It is only right that I greet them officially anyway." Akira replied.
As the two women chatted a little more, Akira heard the door opening.
"Honey, I'm home!" A teasing voice called out loudly.
"Mom, I have to go. Say hi to dad. Good night." Akira ended the call quickly.
On the other side of the phone, Sayaka turned to Daiki. She looked apprehensive and ready to fly out of the house to find Akira. She stood up and started pacing in front of the large bed in their bedroom in her long nightdress.
"Dear, I think Akira is with a man. She is hiding a lot from us. What should we do?" She asked.
Daiki sighed. He also did not want his daughter to disappear with a wild man as soon as they found her. However, she was an independent person. They could not force her to share everything, and they did not know the difficulties she experienced before.
"Don't worry. She will open up to us with time."
Sayaka was like a deflated balloon as she sat down again.
In Blue Mountain Park, Akira faced Kaito with annoyance on her face. She could already imagine the conclusions that her mother drew if she heard the loudmouth.
"What did I do?" Kaito asked innocently. "It is only polite to announce one's safe return."
Akira rolled her eyes and turned back to the TV. Kaito had heard her on the phone, so he felt a little guilty about his earlier shout. He looked at the grumpy person for a moment before he smiled wickedly.
"Do you want to join me on a little night excursion?" He asked.
Akira's ears perked up, but she pretended not to care. To be honest, she was a little interested in Kaito's life, but he never did anything unusual. Or, he was too secretive and efficient that she could not detect anomalies.
"Where?" She asked casually.
"To find sinners."
One hour later, the two people found themselves crouched on a container near a small port. The container yard was not busy, but there was some movement here and there from patrol guards.
Akira looked at the seemingly ordinary container yard and did not find anything unusual about it. More importantly, she did not understand the reason Kaito had brought her to this place.
However, she could not deny that it was a little exciting. She never got a lot of covert missions that could be too dangerous from the Immortal Sword Brigade. She was always ȧssigned overt or reconnaissance type of missions.
Her eyes darted from here to there with a bright twinkle.
Kaito looked at Akira with evil and possessive eyes. The black catsuit did not leave much to the imagination. He felt both appreciative and jealous when he thought about any other time she might have worn it. There was an overwhelming urge to confiscate it.
"Are we going to do something?" Akira asked in a whisper.
He found the target container almost immediately with the precise meter. It was a few rows ahead of them. He put away the GPS unit and indicated to Akira the direction. Even though the yard was quiet, they needed to be careful with the security guards.
Kaito jumped from the shipping container they were crouching on to the next row. His movements were fast like a dangerous cat in the final moment of capturing prey. However, his landing was soft and silent. He looked back at Akira.
He beckoned to her in an offer to catch her if she could not make it over the distance. So far, she had kept up with him as they scaled the security fence and set up on the container. However, the distance between the two rows of containers was large.
Unfortunately, the generous gesture on Kaito's part was interpreted as a challenge by Akira. She puffed her cheeks and stood up. She leapt the distance with smooth grace like a flying bird drifting with the wind.
When she landed beside Kaito, she looked at him and turned her nose in the air. Kaito had to concentrate hard not to burst out laughing. They hid in the shadows until they reached the target container.
Kaito picked the lock while Akira kept a lookout for the guards. Once the door was open, the two of them looked into the shipping space. The container was surprisingly not filled. There were only a few boxes placed on pallets.
The two stepped in and closed the door.
Kaito took out a small flashlight from his pockets and shone a light on the boxes with some anxiety. He ȧssigned his most trusted people to place trackers on all shipments coming from the Takahashi business. He did not expect to reap the benefits so soon.
After placing the tracker, he monitored the movement of the freight. His goal was to find anomalies such as unaccounted cargo. Earlier after he met with Hajime, he received an alert about the arrival of a container at a restricted port.
Kaito felt like he was on the verge of finding the reason behind his uncle's actions of killing all his kin. He took out a blade and cut along the seam of one of the boxes. He inserted his fingers and pulled out a small packet.
He shone a beam of light on the packet.
Unfortunately, there was only a structural formula of a chemical compound, and he did not recognise it.
"Give me that," Akira whispered
She took the packet from him and took a close look under the light. She frowned as she studied it.
"Do you know what it is?" Kaito asked.
"It seems to be a strange variant of alpha-pyrrolidinopentionephenone." She responded.
"The what?"
"Flakka. Or the zombie drug."