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Riku came to pick Akira and Mao up from school. It was Riku's duty to pick the kids up from school. Taku would have done that, but he closed from school hours after the kids did.
Riku usually saw Akira and Mao playing in the playground while waiting for him after school. But this time, he didn't see them. He went to meet Akira's class teacher, a middle-aged woman, to ask for their whereabouts.
"They were playing in the playground when I left to get my bag. I came back and couldn't find them anywhere around the playground. I thought you had come to pick them up."
"I didn't, ma'am. I'm just coming to pick them up now, and I also can't find them." Riku's jaw tensed, his eyes narrowed, and sudden worried lines appeared on his forehead.
"I'm sorry. I will raise an alarm now."
"They might be somewhere around, playing. Let's check around while you keep an eye on these ones playing here."
"Okay, fine."
Riku searched everywhere, around the school building, but couldn't find Akira and Mao. Before he was done, it was evening. He went back to the playground.
The class teacher was still there. She was standing, hands akimbo, with a wrinkled brow. Her lips were pressed into thin lines, a testament to her worry about the disappearance of the kids.
There were just two kids remaining there, sitting beside her, a boy and a girl of Akira and Mao's age. Riku could tell they were siblings owing to the fact they both had green eyes and the same lips.
"Did you see them?" the class teacher asked immediately she saw Riku. Her hands were shaking slightly. Riku shook his head slowly.
"I should have raised an alarm earlier. We should meet with the school security because I don't think the school authority are still in school." She sighed heavily, with a remorseful look.
"I met with the school security already, but they said they didn't see any kids like that. You don't have to be that worried, ma'am. I didn't find Mao's class teacher here today."
"Oh, good God! You know she is pregnant. She doesn't stay here with the kids at the playground after their closing. I help her do that for now."
"Can I get her home address?"
"She doesn't know anything about this. Let's contact the cops."
"Let me get her address, ma'am," he insisted.
She took a sheet of paper from her bag and a pen, scratched some words on it, then gave it to Riku.
"Thank you, ma'am. Why are these kids still here?"
"Their parents haven't come to pick them up. I don't know what's holding them back."
"It's late already."
"Yeah, it is. But I just phoned their parents; they are on their way now. You need to start going so you can find your sisters."
Riku nodded in agreement. Then he left.
He went back home to see if Akira and Mao had gone home.
His parents and Taku were sitting down. They had worried looks on their faces and looks of anticipation for the return of Akira and Mao. His mother's heart was aching as tears consumed her.
The moment he got in, they all stood up. He scanned through the sitting room; no sight of Akira and Mao.
"Where is—"
"They aren't here yet," his mum cut him short impatiently.
"They aren't in their school. But I have the address of Mao's class teacher. I'll go ask her the whereabouts of Akira and Mao."
"This is very serious! Something of this nature has never happened before." His father turned to his crying wife, gently holding her trembling hand. "You need to stop crying, please. Everything will be fine. I promise you that."
His mother's cries stifled, but tears were still moving freely from her eyes.
Riku went inside the room and came back wearing his Kimono and carrying his Nichirin sword.
"I'll go with you," Taku said.
"No, Taku!" His father's voice echoed in the tiny sitting room. "Let your brother Riku go alone."
"But why, Dad?" His voice was teary.
"Your sisters could be in danger. Riku alone has the might and willpower to bring them back to safety. If, for now, I can't see the three of them, let me be seeing you. The four of you can't be out there."
"Taku, Dad is right. The four of us can't be out there. You need to be with Dad and Mum. It's night already. No one knows what I would encounter at such a deadly hour."
Liquid drops of salty sadness trickled on Taku's cheeks. He nodded reluctantly, then embraced Riku compassionately. "Go and bring Akira and Mao back home, and come back safely also."
"I'll. It's a promise."
Taku took the sheet of paper in Riku's hand, glanced at it, and gave it back to him.
"Wait, Riku, let me get you an umbrella. It's raining heavily." Riku's mother went in and came back with an umbrella and gave it to Riku with a quivering hand.
He tenderly held his mother's hand. "Thank you, Mum." Riku cast a last look at his family, then he left.
***
It was raining. The street was wet. People were using umbrellas, and those who couldn't were running under the rain.
There was traffic. The hooting of cars, buses, and motorcycles was deafening. The yelling and cussing of drivers pierced through the air.
Riku entered a bus going in the direction of Mao's class teacher's address. The bus was unusually filled with passengers. It could be because of the rain. The bus was crowded. There was no seat left for Riku to sit, so he had to stand like most people there.
He held the hand straps to support his weight so as not to fall as other standing passengers were bumping into him.
The shrilling cry of a baby that could not be pacified by the mother, no matter what she did, was relentless.
A few minutes later, the bus stopped and some passengers came out. Riku was one of them. He walked silently on the street to Mao's class teacher's house, crunching on debris and leaves.
The street was full of old and dilapidated houses. For a teacher who teaches in such a wealthy and prestigious school, it should be reasoned that they pay gracefully, so
why would she be staying in such a place?
Riku shrugged the thought off his shoulder. That wasn't his business; his business was to search for his sisters and bring them back home safely.
He was approaching a building when he saw a lady, heavily pregnant, ditching dirt outside a building. She was holding an umbrella with one hand.
Riku ran to her. She recognized Riku as one of her student's elder brothers who picks her up from school with her older sister.
She had a puzzled face.
"I'm Riku. Mao's elder brother."
"I know. How can I help you? Isn't it late?"
"Yeah, I know. And I'm sorry for bothering you, but I can't find my sisters. Do you have an idea where they could be?"
"Another kid gone missing," she whispered under her breath, not to anyone in particular.
"What did you say, ma'am?"
"Come inside. I can't stand under the rain. It's chilly out here."
They got inside her apartment.
Inside the apartment was nothing like the outside of the building. It was small but cozy, and everything in the sitting room was neatly arranged.
On her table, there were heaps of books neatly piled up, and then another one at the side, but not as much. In the middle, there was one opened and a red pen was on it.
She sat down on the sofa. "You can sit, Riku."
"Is Akira and Mao here?" he asked impatiently.
"They are not," she replied calmly.
Riku's brow furrowed. "Then why should I sit?" A surge of impatience overwhelmed him. All he could think of was to save his sisters.
"Because what I'm about to say is very important and has to do with the disappearance of your sisters."
Riku's hope bolted up, and he sat on the edge of an armchair. He wasn't resting his back against the armchair; he leaned forward.
"You see, I'm marking their assignments."
Riku's eyes drifted to the books on her table, and he looked back at her. He nodded.
"Mao is doing very well in school, as you know, and you should be proud of her. It's very painful she and her sister are nowhere to be found, but I'm not surprised. I know it won't stop till somebody does something about it."
"What do you mean?" Riku was curious. If there was anything she was going to say that would help in looking for his sisters, he was in, in toto.
"A lot of kids have been missing in the school for years, and nothing has been done about it. In the last one year and six months I've been teaching, thirteen students have gone missing just in my class. Nobody, not even the school authorities or the owner of the school, cared or has done anything about it. They only talk with their mouths but don't act."
She stood up. She took something in an envelope lying under the table and then gave it to Riku. "Open it."
Riku opened it. He brought out a letter and scanned through it. He wasn't able to read the letter. Just very few words "A re…sig…nation le..tter?"He peered at the at letter. He wasn't quite sure of the heading of the letter which he managed to read.
She nodded in agreement. " A resignation letter. I just want to get done with this marking of the assignments. I'm too weak to finish fast, but I'll have to. I'll stay up late and finish it this week. By next month, I'll be putting to bed. When I'm done with the marking, I'll be resigning. I can't bear watching kids go missing without anybody doing anything about it. When I want to do something concerning it, I get warned and threatened."
"By who?"
"By the school authority. The other time was by the owner of the school himself, Mr. Itsuki."
"So he knows about their missing?"
"He knows. He certainly does. I think he is the one behind all these. And from what I gathered, he does this to kids under his scholarship. The parents do not have the voice and money to do anything. At the end, he compensates the parents with filthy money, and that does it."
"I'll go to his place now."
"Yes, you have to. Go now. But be careful."
Riku chuckled. He stood up. "I'm a demon slayer."
"I can see the Nichirin sword."
His eyes widening, "You know about the Nichirin sword?"
"I know about a lot. There is no time for this now. Go and save your sisters."
"Thank you very much."
Riku hurriedly left. He didn't enter a bus. He ran like a flash of lightning. He knew the house of Mr. Itsuki. Mr. Itsuki had organized one of his philanthropic events, and his mother was one of the janitors at the event. She had brought both Taku and Riku to assist her.
He got to the magnificent building of the Itsukis. There was a doorbell, so he pressed it twice. A househelp came out.
"Is Mr. Itsuki around?"
"Why are you here at this odd hour of the night? Mr. Itsuki can never ask to see somebody like you."
"Can you answer me?"
She rolled her eyes at Riku.
"Open the door, now I'm asking politely."
"Do your worst."
Riku jumped the gate. She gasped, her eyes widening. Then she shrieked.
"Thief! Thief! Thief!" She continued screaming.
Everyone in the house became alert. Securities burst out in black uniforms with hefty guns. They started firing at Riku.
Riku's Nichirin sword on his side was untouched. To him, they weren't his real target, and he wouldn't want to use his Hashira sword on humans.
Riku dodged the bullets aiming at him with a graceful dance. Some passed close to his ears with slow motion as he leaned backward.
He held one of the security guards' guns and slammed him on the floor. He used the gun to hit him hard on his head, and the man lay unconscious.
Another one rushed at him, firing bullets. Riku twisted the security guard's hand and caused the gun to fire aimlessly in the air. He used his leg to brush the man; he lost his balance and hit his back hard on the floor. He groaned, holding his back.
He held another by his hair forcefully and punched him on his nose, and his nose broke. He bled profusely.
One of the security guards' came to his back with the thought that Riku wasn't aware. Riku felt his cold presence at his back. He gave a powerful coil with his feet planted firmly on the ground, facing the security who looked startled.
Riku butted him on his forehead. It was brutal and hard. A sudden surge of pain shot through his skull. He spun like a whirlwind and collapsed on the body of the other security guard on the floor.
Guns clattered on the floor, and soon all the security guards were lying on the floor, moaning in pain.
Riku went inside the sitting room. He saw Itsuki sitting on an armchair made from purely gold with his legs crossed. He was drinking wine from a glass cup.
When he saw Riku, he dropped the wine on the stool in front of him. There was a wine bottle on it. He clapped loudly and grinned.
"That was impressive. Beating all my security guards. You must be something else." Then his face suddenly became serious, "What do you want, young man?"
"My sisters. Akira and Mao." Riku's face was unsmiling and dangerous.
His brow furrowed questioningly, then he sighed. "Calm down, young man. What do I have to do with your sisters? Do you presume I'm having an affair with our sisters? I have a wife."
Riku spat. "Girls of six and seven."
"Oh! My bad! I thought they were girls of age. Imagine you coming to my mansion at this ungodly hour, so I thought you were presuming I was having fun with your sisters, that they skipped sleeping home. I don't know of your little sisters' whereabouts, please."
"They attend your school. They are on scholarship."
"That's out of my generosity. You know I'm a philanthropist." He chuckled. "Those things are nothing. I can do more for your family. Do you mind joining me?" He picked the glass of wine and raised it up.
"Suit yourself, old man. Where are my sisters?"
He sipped the wine and dropped it back on the stool. "I wouldn't like to call the cops on you. They wouldn't ask you any questions; merely seeing you at my house without an invite at this time of the night, they will throw you in a cell. I'm a really considerate man. I wouldn't want that for you and your family. For all I know, I'm telling the truth. I don't know the whereabouts of your sisters. Please sit down, let's talk. How about coffee? It's raining, so I guess it's cold."
"I'm fine." His face was grim.
"I will call the school security now."
"I have talked with them. They didn't see my sisters."
Itsuki breathed out heavily. "This is tough." He stood up. "You will come with me to the school so we can check the footage and see if we can see anything. We will start from there. We would alert the police. I'm really sorry for this and for what my security guards did to you. Please accept my heartfelt apology."
"I just want my sisters." His voice was breaking with emotion.
"I know. I know. I would try everything in my power to make sure I bring your sisters back to you. I'm sure they are lovely kids."
"Yes, they are."
"I don't bite, young man. What's your name again?"
"Riku."
"Yeah. Riku, I don't bite. I don't know what you must have heard of me; I'm not such a person, okay? Don't be gullible, son. Let's go."
He led the way to the door. Riku was walking behind him. He stepped on something. He removed his leg from the spot and then saw a pink hairpin.
"Akira's hairpin. The one I gifted her on her birthday." He glared at Itsuki, who had turned back looking at him, with a knowing face, as he had been caught in his lies and deceit.
Riku's brow snapped together in anger. His eyes blazed in fury. His nose flared. Anger thrummed through his veins. His blood was boiling with rage.
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