True Family

I was stunned into silence. How does he know my name? As the bartender muttered a curse under his breath while trying to complete Kti’s strange request, I sucked in my breath, not looking at the man. Was he on the case file? Did I mess up? I thought I had them all memorized, but maybe I overlooked one. The man swirled the melting ice cubes around in his glass.

“I never thought I’d run into you by chance. I know from Kang that you and her got along very well…” he said softly. My eyes widened. I slowly looked towards him as my breath caught in my throat.

“She doesn’t mention her last name since she doesn’t want us exposed to the public. But you may call me Mr. Kiachi, or you can call me Chiaki’s father,” he explained. I looked down, feeling tears well up in my eyes again.

“I’m so… so sorry. I couldn’t save her. It–it’s because of me that she died,” I said as my voice cracked. Mr. Kiachi set his glass down.

“Chiaki gave her life for yours. My daughter sacrificed herself for you, Yuka. So don’t you dare ruin her memory by spending that life feeling guilty. You understand?” he said while clenching his glass tightly. I choked back tears, giving a small nod.

“Instead, live life to its fullest. Because the truth is, she would have done it for anyone. That’s just the kind of person my Chiaki was…” he explained with a distant look in his eyes. I felt Kti put a hand on my arm to comfort me.

“R-Right. I apologize sir,” I replied quickly. He smiled a bit and laughed.

“Please, call me Mr. Kiachi,” he commented as the bartender passed Kti his drink. Kti took one sip, made a face, then made a “bleck” sound.

“You should come over today for lunch,” Mr. Kiachi said suddenly, giving me a smile. I felt like I shouldn’t, but I also couldn’t refuse. I gave a small nod.

“Okay… but I can’t stay long, I’m on a mission,” I explained.

“I figured you were. It’s weird to enter a bar and not drink, after all,” Mr. Kiachi said with a chuckle. Crap, he’s right. I was much too easy to figure out. Mr. Kiachi got to his feet before heading to the door.

“Put their drinks on my tab,” he told the bartender, who simply nodded. I wondered if it was a good idea to follow someone I didn’t know. There’s no proof that it’s her dad–no, I shouldn’t think like that. The emotion in his voice… How could somebody fake that? I followed him to the door, Kti hopping down from the stool and coming with us. I’ll just stay for a little bit, then I’ll get back to work.

Stepping outside, he walked to a parked car on the curb. I could see someone further ahead dumping a few scent runestones inside their car. I tried not to stare though, heading to Kiachi’s car. It was an older gray Toyota model with scratches in the paint. 

Once it was unlocked, I got inside with Kti. Inside the car, I could immediately confirm this was Chiaki’s dad. There were old bags piled full of figurines and DVDs about various shows and anime.

“Sorry about the mess, I was going to sell a lot of this stuff,” Mr. Kiachi explained as he started up the car.

“It’s okay,” I replied politely. He’s selling it all? I guess it makes sense. Seeing all of it around the house is probably painful. We pulled out from the curb, heading down the road. I gazed at the various places we passed, some places selling runestones while others sold kitchen artifacts. My small village didn’t really have magic like this, and I never really paid attention to it when I lived in the city.

Over time, the buildings became houses, which became houses missing parts of the walls. Or in the case of an overturned semi, makeshift houses. Wait… I saw that before. Before I could get a closer look, we’d already passed it. 

I could see various structures that felt almost familiar. I hope we don’t drive past that Puritan house. Thankfully, we soon stopped outside a more normal house other than the windows covered by white cloth. Something about it felt weirdly familiar though.

“We’re here. I know it’s not much, but it’s cozy inside,” Mr. Kiachi said with a welcoming smile, getting out of the car. I got out as well, giving a smile back. Meeting Chiaki’s father, and him being so friendly and welcoming made me feel a little better. As I approached the door, I felt nothing but gratitude and a warm feeling in my chest.

~~~~

I looked over the files I’d just acquired from the police. They were addressed to Kang. But I didn’t know why. Why did they send these to me? I sat at the table, sorting through each. Murder cases. Several of them. All of the victims were Puritans. 

It just didn’t make sense to me. Especially because the suspects were also Puritans. Why would they murder their own? Each crime scene had a bloody Puritan symbol written in the victim’s blood.

Could it be a setup? Maybe someone who’s acting as a vigilante trying to cover their tracks? It’s possible. But for so many to be killed so easily, it’d take more than one person. Maybe a rogue Watcher. I sorted through them again, looking at the names. 

Wait a moment. Could it be…? I quickly stood up from the table, heading to the shelf where I’d temporarily put the files that had been given to Yuka. I opened them carefully beside the murder scenes.

I stared in disbelief. It didn’t make any sense. Yet it was staring me in the face. It was so shocking, I found myself speaking out loud to myself, something I never did.

“No way… all of the people Yuka was to investigate… are dead.”