Seijurou leaned back, his eyes finally softening, though the coldness never really left them. "Actually, Mr. Kamitani... I came here because I needed your help."
Mr. Kamitani blinked. He looked at the luxury car, the expensive suit, and the driver waiting in the front. "My help? Mr. Kanzaki, you have more money than the government. How could a man like me possibly help someone like you?"
Seijurou let out a sudden, genuine laugh. It was a sharp sound that echoed off the brick walls. "You know, in my entire life, I've never met anyone quite like you. You're remarkably consistent."
Mr. Kamitani just stared at him. 'What kind of help could a man like this want from a lawyer like me?'
"I want you to file a complaint," Seijurou said, his voice turning casual. "To the government. Tell them they are being negligent. The street lamps in this city... they are terrible. There isn't nearly enough light at night."
Mr. Kamitani's patience finally snapped. "The street lamps? You stopped your car in front of this neighborhood to talk about light bulbs? Why? Why on earth would I do that? What does that have to do with anything?"
"Relax, Mr. Kamitani," Seijurou said, raising a hand to calm him.
He chuckled softly. "You see, I've been drinking quite a lot lately. When the sun goes down, my body doesn't function the way it used to. My eyes... they struggle in the dark. It's hard to see what's right in front of you when the government refuses to light the way."
Mr. Kamitani stood frozen. He tried to piece it together. 'Drinking? Seijurou Kanzaki is admitting he's a drunk? Why is he telling me this?'
Seijurou leaned his head against the headrest and gave Mr. Kamitani a warm, almost kind smile. It was the most terrifying thing Mr. Kamitani had seen all day.
"It's a matter of safety," Seijurou whispered. "I mean, think about it. Without proper light, a man might crash his car. He might hit... someone... simply because he couldn't see them in the shadows. Wouldn't that be a tragedy?"
The air in the alleyway felt like it had vanished. Mr. Kamitani's fingers tightened on his phone until his knuckles went white. "Why are you telling me this, Mr. Kanzaki? What does your driving have to do with me?"
"Breathe, Mr. Kamitani," Seijurou said smoothly. "Mistakes happen to everyone. That is how we learn, isn't it? We trip, we fall, and we do better next time."
He leaned closer to the window, his eyes locking onto Mr. Kamitani's with a strange, dark intensity.
"But you can rest easy," Seijurou said, his smile widening just a fraction. "It wasn't my mistake."
Mr. Kamitani felt a sudden, thin line of sweat at the back of his neck. The air in the narrow street felt heavy. He looked down at his phone, his thumb fidgeting uselessly over the screen. The billionaire's words were a jigsaw puzzle with half the pieces missing, and every way Mr. Kamitani tried to fit them together ended in a wreck.
"What are you talking about?" Mr. Kamitani asked. His voice was steady, but he was breathing too shallowly. "What mistake? You're talking in circles about streetlights and drinking—get to the point, Mr. Kanzaki. What happened twelve hours ago?"
Seijurou let out a long, weary sigh, the sound of a man exhausted by the slow-wittedness of others. He shifted in the plush leather seat, adjusting his sleeves with agonizing care.
"My apologies," Seijurou said, his voice dropping the poetic act. "I forget that you prefer the factual over the metaphorical. Let's speak in your language then. The language of the court."
He leaned out of the shadow of the car's interior, the sunlight hitting his face for the first time. The warmth of his earlier smile was gone, replaced by a cold, sharp-edged clarity. He looked Mr. Kamitani dead in the eye.
"The truth is, Mr. Kamitani, I find myself in a rather... tiring legal position," Seijurou stated. "I have been falsely accused."
Mr. Kamitani opened his mouth to reply, but his gaze drifted past the Mercedes.
Coming out of the Amamiya house, Shido and Tamiko were holding hands. They looked like they were in their own world.
"But if we get the strawberry ones," Tamiko was saying, her voice light and cheerful, "we have to make sure the freezer is actually on this time. Remember last Tuesday?"
"I told you, that was a power glitch!" Shido laughed, gently tugging her along. "Besides, I'm the one who handles the grocery planning in this relationship. Trust the process, Tamiko."
Suddenly, the tugging stopped. Shido kept walking for two steps before he realized Tamiko was a rock. He turned back, still holding her hand. "What's the matter? Did you forget the—"
He stopped. Tamiko wasn't looking at him. She was staring down the street at the shiny,
white car.
"Shido?" Tamiko asked, her voice full of pure, quiet innocence. "Is that... is that your father standing by that car?"
Shido's heart didn't just drop; it performed a wild Olympic dive. 'Oh no. No, no, no,' he thought, his brain screaming in a dozen different directions. 'Not here. Not now. Not with him.'
"I—well, you see—it's a... a mirage?" Shido staggered over his words, his eyes wide. "Maybe it's a high-definition billboard? Or—"
He glanced over. Mr. Kamitani was staring directly at him. The look on his father's face was one of pure, total irritation.
Shido freaked out. In a move of pure desperation, he bent over, turning his back to the car and hiding behind his own knees.
"Shido!" Tamiko cried, leaning over him with a worried frown. "Are you alright? Is it your stomach again? Do you have a stomachache?"
Mr. Kamitani watched this show from the side of the car, his jaw tightening. 'What on earth is that boy doing?' he wondered bitterly. 'Is he trying to blend into the ground?'
Underneath his breath, Shido was whispering to himself, his eyes squeezed shut. "I am a hero. I am a brave man. I am the protagonist of my own life. I am not afraid of anyone. Especially not monsters."
He took a deep, shaky breath. "Okay. The mission is simple: exit the demonic street. Escape the two monsters. Move, Shido. Move!"
He stood up with a burst of sudden 'courage' and risked one look back.
It was a mistake.
Not only was Mr. Kamitani glaring at him with enough anger to melt lead, but Seijurou was leaning slightly out of the car, watching Shido with a look of genuine, bored confusion—as if he were watching a strange animal perform a confusing trick.
Shido didn't wait for a second look. He squeezed her hands and pulled her along, his pace turning into a desperate, awkward run.
"Change of plans! We're running! Now!"
He didn't look back again, keeping his head down and guiding Tamiko around the corner as quickly as her legs could keep up. In seconds, they were gone, leaving the street silent once more.
Mr. Kamitani watched the empty corner for a moment before turning back. Seijurou was still watching the spot where the teenagers had vanished.
"Is that boy your adopted son?" Seijurou asked. He spoke as if the name 'Shido' was a detail too small for a CEO to bother remembering.
Mr. Kamitani gave a sharp, dry smirk. "You know a lot for a man who runs a global empire, Mr. Kanzaki. If the business world ever bores you, I'm always looking for a good investigator. I think you'd be an asset."
"Investigator? No. Not my style," Seijurou laughed. "I prefer to have the answers brought to me." He turned his gaze back to the empty road where Shido had just fled. "Still, even for an adopted one, he matches your vibe perfectly."
"I'm well aware," Mr. Kamitani replied with a short, humorless laugh.
Seijurou's expression shifted, becoming uncomfortably philosophical. "It's better to cherish these moments, don't you think? Life is... unpredictable. Who knows who might lose theirs, or when?" He gestured loosely between the two of them. "If men like us were to disappear tomorrow, imagine the chaos for our families. The things left unsaid."
"Don't worry about me," Mr. Kamitani said firmly. "I plan on living a very long life after I retire."
Seijurou agreed smoothly. "The world needs more people like you, Mr. Kamitani.".
He leaned back into the plush comfort of the seat, letting out a slow sigh. "It is vital for parents to value every single moment of their child. I'm sure the mother in that house..." He nodded toward the Amamiya house. "...is currently regretting every moment she didn't spend cherishing her daughter."
Mr. Kamitani felt a cold spike of confusion.
'How does he know about the Amamiya family? Why would a billionaire know about a death in a family like that?'
Seijurou continued, his voice dropping into a low, cold tone, like he was delivering a final speech at a grave. "It's a strange thing about humanity, isn't it? People treat each other so rashly while they are alive. They neglect, they ignore, they mistreat. But the moment someone dies? Suddenly, those same people start remembering every detail. They praise them. They love them when it's far too late to matter."
Mr. Kamitani stared at him, his face hardening. "What sort of crime have you been accused of, Mr. Kanzaki?"
In his mind, a war was breaking out. He thought of Asuka. He remembered the call, the medical report... she had died around three.
Twelve hours ago.
Three o'clock.
The realization hit Mr. Kamitani like a physical blow to the chest. His eyes widened, his heart hammering a desperate rhythm against his ribs. The 'drinking,' the 'lack of light,' the "
'accident'...
"You bastard!" Mr. Kamitani shouted, his voice trembling with a sudden, violent wrath. He stepped closer to the car window, his face a mask of pure anger. "What did you do last night? Tell me exactly what you did, Seijurou Kanzaki!"
"Relax, Mr. Kamitani," Seijurou said, his voice calm. "It was a coincidence. A tragic mistake. A simple accident. It wasn't my—"
"Answer me!" Mr. Kamitani screamed, cutting him off mid-sentence. "I asked you what you did!"
The warm, fake smile on Seijurou's face vanished instantly. His features flattened into a look of absolute coldness and arrogance. He looked at Mr. Kamitani as if he were a bug beneath his feet.
"I think..." Seijurou said, his voice like ice, "that you've already realized that by now."
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