2023, 1er avril 

Une nouvelle année commençait, les écoliers reprenaient l'école, les sociétés remettaient les turbo après un hanami avec leurs employés et les nouveaux amendements du gouvernements sont mis en application à partir de ce jour.

 

April the first 2023, a whole new year's starting today.

Students go for the first time or back to school, company return to work after the joy and relaxing Hanami and new policies by the government are in place. 

Yet Rei's pulled back again by the past. 

Like every year since he became a law enforcement officer of Japan, he asked for a week of break to instigate that case that took his sister away. 

He knew it's been 8 years, and that, by then, everyone would have ruled it as death. But till this day, her body never got find out. And no body, no end of story. That's, at least, what his father believed and Rei would like to believe too. 

But it's also because he owned Ran that. 

When he was 14, exactly 10 years ago, Ran traveled from Japan to China just to meet with him after another 10 years of living estranged to each other due to their parents' divorce. Of course, the matter were differents, but he could spent some decade of years to look for her now that he became police officer for that exact reason. 

So he took five days of leave out of his ten paid and looked into police reports from 8 years and a month ago. Of course, it didn't change from last year and the year before when he was first allowed to investigate  the case but he liked to think that every new year, he could read on about new hint that he would have only hovered before.

So far, what made his father think that Ran was still alive was the lack of body.

However, in actuality, three months after the incident that hijacked the bus that was driving from Tokyo to Kyoto, the police did find a burnt body close to the incident place. But after all the examination and the comparing with the umbilical cord and even Rei's DNA, we found out that the corpse didn't belong to Ran. Though, to be honest, at first inspection, the height didn't match either.

Due to Turner syndrom, Ran was diagnosed to being unable to grow more than 140 cm and though the growth hormones did their job, the growth's slow and the corpse they found was definitely too tall.

The conclusion was that the hijack of the bus was planned, whereas taking Ran's body was deliberate or not, the fact the culprits had to place a substitute corpse meant they didn't intend to return the actual body to the mourning family and that didn't settle well for either member of said family. His father concluded to a kidnapping, not sure if Ran was the actual target while the bus was taken down, but the police couldn't do anything as a reserved body was put there for the case to be closed. And there were not match DNA in the data for the actual identity of the corpse. So it belonged to a foreigner, though there was nothing in interpol's missing reports. Leading to think that the corpse was living a clandestine life to keep his disappearance on the low. 

His father and Rei came to guess there was some underground plot below it all. 

And narrowing it down, their only lead was the Kanon society, the one that Tsukihana Renji was rumored to be linked to some decade ago before he chose to live in Kyoto, breaking the association. 

If there was really some history between them, Rei never got an answer from his father and now that he was in the law enforcement, he doubted his father will ever tell him. However, knowing his father's perseverance to find Ran, he can deduce that their only lead went nowhere.

That didn't mean Rei let the yakuza family go. Being in the police, he now have a reason to keep watch on them.

But like two years ago, the report didn't change, just waiting for him to add new statement and progression. It just let him to drive to the location and check for any new change. 

As he was nearing the turn where the incident took place, he received a call. He parked to the rest area and carried on the remaining meters on foot while answering his phone.

"Are you on the road?" The line opened on the question. 

Rei didn't check the ID but he didn't have to. The caller's been giving the same call at the same time every year since they met at the Police Academy. 

"Already here," he said without pausing. 

"Call it. Message me any news?" 

"Sure, if I remember." 

"Thanks. Talk to you later." 

Rei merely answered with a non-committal grunt, but the other knew him by now and let him go by ending the call.

He met Ryu while back he was enrolling in the National Police Academy right after high school as both of them were passing the exam of first level before coming back to pass the second level after university. The reason they even came to know each other was their desire to find back Ran as they both believed her to be alive. Though they each knew her only for a short while, Ryu only from the start of middle school, they came to grow to her and were willing to spend years into intense training to be law enforcement agents to investigate the case that made her go off the radars.

If Rei was now in the traffic department, second division, that investigate traffic case, Ryu was on the murder department, first division, to investigate crime scene and get criminals motives. One way or another, they're both trying to find some lead from a 8 years ago case, not letting it go without a closure.

Rei scanned the area like he did every other years he came here after he was allowed to know the exact place before doing calculations.

Only starting two years ago did he get the chance to see the official report about the incident. Before that, the adults would go easy on him because he was underage and tell him to mind what high schooler would do. But at his young age of 14, he already got plenty of disturbing event like be involved in explosion and have her sister kidnapped. In the span of two years no less.

But like the others years, he didn't find anything useful and ended up glaring the place where they found the burnt body, some kilometers away from the explosed night bus.

A car stopped right besides him.

He ignore it, thinking the driver must want to take some pee break in the middle of nowhere, though Rei would have to stop him and give him his empty bottle for case like that, or maybe ask for some informations that he'd be able to give, having studied the road for so long. But when the window rolled down, he knew instantly that it couldn't be either option. Then, the smooth voice called him over.

"Need a hand, sir?"

He glanced over, taking note of her perfectly done nails that are exposed to him as the owner showed up her hand to attract his attention and how her car gave out a sweet smell that's blend her perfume and the one of the car, and finally he looked at her. A woman of late twenty, low ponytail to not bother her stance while driving, knew the area but still put the GPS to be sure and took care of her appearance by having her make up bag on the passenger seat. Rei tried really hard not to comment on that. 

"I'm good, thank you for offering. I was just making sure that I didn't lose something in the area."

"What would it be, if I may ask?"

"Something really important that I was infortunately unable to come check earlier. But it's okay, really. Again, thank you for worrying, I will be taking my leave, now. You do that too, miss." 

"Do you need a ride ?"

"I'm parked at the rest area just before, but thank you for proposing. Though, I would advice you to keep your belongings in your bag or an officier could fine you for being an irresponsable driver."

He couldn't resist, the officer in him showing up. 

"My bad. Will do, have a nice day." 

"You too." 

For a second, he thought he saw her eyes glint in amber when she smiled sweetly at him. Then, it disappeared with her as her car speed up and vanished at the next turn.

Rei went back to Tokyo empty hands.

 

As he's closing to Tokyo's centre, he wondered what he will do now that he didn't have any lead yet again. Maybe greeting his father if the latter wasn't too busy with his last project.

He was glad that Tsukihana Renji wasn't some busy business man too focused on working to support his family but that being the exact reason he and his mother's divorce, ending separating the twins. But being architect made his whole time schedule even more hectic if he's not purposefully avoiding Rei. It wasn't like he was favoriting his two children, having always made effort to check on him during the ten years of lost guardianship, but when Rei insist on helping the case while being only sixteen put some strain in their relationship after Renji had to give him some realizing speech.

Well, it's true that he couldn't do anything being underage and less experimented than actual professionals but he really wanted to help and he was the closest to her as he talked to her for the last time by messages. 

He still got the message. 

Tachibana-san's dead.

It still haunted him to this day, that he could have reach her if he checked his notification earlier instead of dismissing it for his studies. He missed the chance to save her. 

So, with guilt curling up in him, he decided to visit Tachibana-san's grave.

The man was their father's butler before being to the family's. He probably watched Tsukihana Renji grow up and did the same for Ran, till the incident. It wasn't the first time Ran would do "alone" the ride from Kyoto to Tokyo or vice-versa, Tachibana-san would always ride with her while in disguise to check that she did end in the right destination, but it was the first time that she took the night bus instead of the Shinkansen. Their father and Tachibana-san didn't try to pretend they will let her go alone and insisted the butler went with her. And the man passed away, maybe protecting his young mistress till his last breath.

His father made all the necessities to give the last member of his family a solemn funeral and respectable place to the grave in Tokyo where he was born. Rei brought a flower on his way and wasn't that surprised to see someone already there. Not his father, though.

"Hey, Rei, done with the check up?"

"Fujishima, didn't know you got the time to drop in." 

"I was just done with an interview in the area and had the day off, so I chose to pay some respect to Tachibana-san."

Fujishima Shinji, like Asano Ryu, was Ran's friend of Tokyo before she and their father chose to move to Kyoto. Rei met him about the same time he met Ryu who insisted to introduce each other as they all wanted to know where Ran disappear to. But unlike him and Ryu, he didn't enter in the force and worked as variety show artist, probably thinking that the more contacts he got, the easier to deal with a clandestine matter.

"Here, it's live broadcasted right now."

He showed him his phone that displayed said interview with a nice looking interviewer.

"How can you call it live if you're right in front of me?" 

"I'm not the one who choose the term. I would also call it a pre-recorded interview, but the video dost show it's live." 

Not wanting to understand how show business work, Rei paid his visit to the grave before watching the rest of the video with his somewhat friend that he learned to know in the last 6 years. He merely paid attention to the subject but he instantly focused on the interviewer. It was the same woman who accosted him earlier.

"I just saw her driving out of the city borders." 

"Yeah, she left as soon we ended the recording, she did say she wasn't feeling well."

"She looked OK." 

"She's a pro and make-up is useful in the line of work. She's one of the best interviewer one could ask, always asking interesting and judicious questions unlike those paid actors."

Rei was going to ask her name when he caught it at the bottom of the screen. Sugisaki Kiyo. He searched her on the net and made sure to do the same in the police file if he ever think about contacting Yuki, another acquaintance turned friend that he knew thanks to Ryu because of their relation with Ran. He's not an officer per se but he worked in IT department of mpd. 

It's not like he suspected her of something but that she drive out of the city while calling in sick and had to stop to talk to an stranger did seem suspicious.

 

He did forget to call back Ryu.

He was remembered when the guy in question called again the following day and asked him why did he have to ask Yuki and not him. The logical answer didn't please him and through not calming explanation would made him tell Rei what Rei need. That was until he threatened to hang up.

"Fine. The woman you're looking for, Sugisaki Kiyo, 24, is a freelance journalist before being hired by Yuri TV. And probably what interested you : she was supposed to work her first day yesterday but had to cancel calling in sick."

"Yet, she showed up." 

"That's where it all goes wrong. We went to question her and she didn't leave her apartment in Kanagawa the whole of the day before. You and Shinji saw someone else."

Bingo. The road Rei met her may still be in Kanagawa prefecture, but way out of the outskirts to do some grosseries. Someone took her appearance for some reason and was leaving the Kanto to do some deeds in anonymity.

Rei would like to investigate it, but by now, the person would have already disappeared, changed into another identity. And arresting someone for identity thief was one of the worst case as there are a lot misleading leads. So, he just asked Ryu to ask some questions to Yuri TV where Shinji had his interview and check if something got ruined of spoiled after the identity thief's passing. Which he was already on it, being on the criminal investigation department.

On his end, Rei still had 4 days of break and was wondering to whether go to Kyoto to greet his grandparents or just wait for his mother to call on him to do so as she was already there. He and them didn't have the best relationship. It would have started from the moment when his father and mother got together as they never approved of their union and were the ones who convinced his mother to divorce and taking him to Kyoto. When they saw how he could be good in studies, they almost expect him to become accountant or someone managing their traditional clothes business. They obviously didn't appreciate that he went to Tokyo to become police officer, cutting ties with them except when his mother and their daughter tried to bring them together.

He gave up cooking to take a stroll and eating outside, not too keen to cook just for him.

Tokyo's busy as always and though he's been in the city for 6 years now, he's still not used of how traffics would be in frenzy. As he was in front of the district's park, he received a text that invited him to have lunch together from Seiya. 

He checked the clock before accepting. He didn't usually keep contact with civilians he met along his cases, but Ogata Seiya wore out through him and spending time with didn't hurt.

Afternoon started easily, he kept on his stroll, enjoying his day off and went to the bank because it didn't hurt to keep track on his account when he saw something fishy right outside of the bank.

It wasn't supposed to be suspicious, they were just four people marching along. But the man in the middle couldn't stop looking around while trying not to distance himself from the woman in front. And the two men behind wore a trench coat above their flashy suit. And Rei had the suspicion they were yakuza.

So he followed them. 

They entered in a public parking, going way bellow the floor, and they suddenly split up without a word. He tried to act like he was going to his car and internally preen when he went the same path of the two men looking like gangster. He made a mental note about their lisence plate before trying to find his inexistant car key. Then, when they went back to other two, awya of him, Rei called Yuki and asked him to check the numbers.

As it went, those were fake. He then asked some way to open a locked car. 

Yuki paused before answering. But Rei didn't have any tools on him and tried to open it with bare hands. No reaction, of course. That was until he tried the boot of the car. Unlocked. He told so to Yuki, even asking him to track his phone if something happened to him before hinding himself inside while ignoring his friend's discouragement.

Hearing steps approaching, he tried to send his localisation to his last contact before locking his phone when someone unlocked the car door's. He hold his breath as he listened to them talking for awhile and the short conversation gave him everything he wanted. They were extorting money's from the fidgety man on behalf of Kanon-kai.

Kanon society, the one that his father was rumored to be related and the one Rei suspected to have something to do with his sister's disappearance.

Suddenly, the door of boot opened and Rei locked eyes with the woman of the group. 

He was at the low-angle and couldn't be sure but he could have sworn she looked fazed. Then, his eyes shot to her hands that wasn't holding the car boot to find the expected briefcase the man was holding on dear life and that contained most certainly an obscene amount of cash.

Someone else stepped into view and he regretted he didn't act faster to take photo of the woman before being held at point blank by the new face.

The woman's hand shot up and forced the man to put away his gun.

"Right in the middle of a public place?" 

"There's a stranger in the car. What if he heard what we said?"

"Well, how did he ended up here if you two didn't check to lock the boot of the car? You're the one at fault."

"So, what. Do you want us to bring him back with us and take him out on the way?" Came another new voice. 

"Unless you wanted to be stopped by the cop right before we leave? Just make sure to go through him so he didn't have anything."

They worked quickly to bind his members before his phone and wallet were taken from him, the first broken as expected and cast-off in the parking bin while the woman checked his ID and took out a handkerchief before covering his mouth with it. He dared to think he was more nicely handled than before.

Then the boot shut on him and the journey to hell started when the car rolled.