Hot Food and a Cold Case

“Rei, I’m sorry.”

He had been repeating that, now it was just background noise. I was trying to think. I didn’t want to leave, but I really had nothing to say him right now.

“I’m sorry, I just wanted to fix my own mess.”

We were back in the living room. Ms. Hiyori had taken Okame to her store to get some Snow-cones and some dinner for us. I think she could tell that we needed some time alone.

“I just don’t know what to say Kei.”

He nodded, I knew he knew he was in the wrong. He was just incapable of doing anything about it.

“You didn’t ask me for help. Your friend Daichi disappears out of nowhere and you don’t go looking for him?”

Kei was just staring at me; he had been drinking water but he was now out of tears.

“I thought you guys had a fight, or she had given up?"

“He.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Yeah he. He is your friend. He had found an answer. You didn’t go looking for him? Why? I thought you would, but I don’t know anything about you anymore.”

That was just another on the long list of hurtful things I’d been saying to him since statue dad went back to sleep. I felt bad, but he needed to hear it. He had been a bad person.

“I tried. The first few weeks after Daichi stopped showing up, I tried calling him. And then I did try to leave the house.”

This was news to me.

“I would stand at the door frame, and try to take a step. I would even just try to imagine myself taking a step."

He hung his head low again.

“I couldn’t do either, and I don’t know when it happened. But I can’t go outside.”

He choked up again.

“If dad can’t go outside, I don’t deserve to go outside. I can’t even picture it in my dreams. They are just filled with this house, and that box.”

I was so mad at him, but I still felt sorry for him. He was so sick. But at least now I could be glad I didn’t call service on him, they would’ve found a body too and that would’ve been a whole mess. Maybe I wasn’t a good person either.

“Please Rei you have to help me find Daichi.”

I stared at him.

“You’re like two years too late bro. The trail has gone cold. There’s only one Doctor Kawaguchi at the MaMA, and unless he's made some big changes; it's not him. I’ve never heard of him.”

He twitched and leaned forward.

“But you weren’t looking for him. You’re the best tracker there is! You can find anyone.”

His words were bittersweet.

“You’re right, but you still should’ve told me years ago.”

He nodded. I didn’t really understand him. I wouldn’t have gotten to this point, but I also wasn’t responsible for putting my dad in a box, I didn’t know what that did to a person. He was keeping a big secret; he couldn’t tell me about Daichi without telling me about dad. He probably thought I would hate him for it. I had to let him know that.

“Keisuke, Kei look at me.”

My big brother with the same hair color as my mom, and my dad’s eyes that had turned rainbow after years of essence manipulation, turned to look at me. I was his brown-haired little sister with my mom’s green eyes. My hair had turned grey at the ends thanks to my essence manipulation.

“I don’t hate you. I’m furious.”

He turned away.

‘Look at me! Furious, but I don’t hate you. I love you so much, I could never hate you. I’m so mad that you’ve been alone with this for so long. But I Kawashima Rei, don’t hate you. Okay?’

He was crying some more, when did he become such a crier. A little whimper came out of him.

“Okay. I am sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I really thought you would hate me, and the longer it went.”

“You’re my brother, I’m going to hold this over your head forever, but I don’t hate you.”

He smiled and laughed a little bit through his cries. I got on my knees on the couch to hug him, and we both cried again for a while. I went to grab some tissues. I got us both some more water.

The door opened, and Ms. Hiyori had comeback with Okame. Ms. Hiyori had bags of food and snacks; the little monster girl was holding a snow-cone cup.

“See I told you they would be fine.”

Okame said that with a smug face looking up at Ms. Hiyori.

“I don’t think they’re fine dear, but I do think they’ll be okay.”

That was a fair assessment.

“Thanks for this Ms. Hiyori, I’ll pay you back for the food.”

Keisuke was looking back at me over the couch, his house was a little dark but in nice shape and cleaned well. It was cozy, He had a bunch of knickknacks on the walls, and a few lava lamps. A bunch of radio and computer equipment at a large desk. It was eclectic but it was him. He had his thinking face on, which most people thought was his normal expression since he did it so often. His normal expression was much more relaxed.

“We need to find Daichi. I think with your help we should be able to find some clues.”

I came back and sat next to him.

“Well duh, I can literally talk to walls. Plus you’re not getting anywhere with your essence.”

Odd-ball scratched on the warehouse door. He grimaced but again knew I was right, the truth hurt. The last two years had been insanity.

“But lady Dr. Kawaguchi isn’t going to tell me much. She was already keeping me at arm’s distance and now she’s going to have a whole lot of questions I’ll have to answer before I ask about her brother.”

“I’ll guess you have to break in?”

Kei and I snapped our necks around to look at Ms. Hiyori. She was not living up to her codename Serene Maiden.

“Break in? Ms. Hiyori there’s no need to break in, I can just go request the files on Mister Dr. Kawaguchi.”

“You think they’re going to give you the files, unless the association has changed in five years, I don’t think that’ll happen.”

“They gave me the files on my family?”

“That was relevant for you, and you had Captain Kawakami’s approval, it’s usually not so easy.”

“What about Captain Kawakami? Can’t he help with this?”

He was the head of internal affairs; it may be of little importance but surely he had to at least know if Daichi had moved away.

“He said he was friends with you, and Lady doctor Kawaguchi said the three of you were friends when you were little.”

Keisuke made a face.

“I haven’t seen Kawakami Chihiro in years, even before the research trip. Daichi and I became researchers and we were getting closer through spending so much time together, and Chihiro wasn’t studious like that; we drifted apart. When he started working in internal affairs, we would go out for drinks the three of us, but not as close as when we hunted monsters.”

Ms. Hiyori was cooking in the kitchen, it was starting to smell good, the pot making a trail of steam waft through the air.

“When he was talking about you at the evaluation, it seemed like he still thought of you as a friend.”

Kei smirked.

“He’s a pretty easy-going guy, Daichi was pretty reserved, he brought him out of his shell. I was also kind of along for the ride.”

He looked like a little boy again talking about his friends.

“I mean if we could sneak into the Mama, and see if there were any files on him. Or if there was anything in the research lab about that relic? But breaking into the MaMA is a difficult thing to do.”

I can’t believe we were actually considering breaking into this place.

“Ehhhh it’s not like it’s that hard?”

A musical voice full of laughter filled the air.

“I mean I entered through the front door.”

The steam from the food wafted into the middle and grew, there was a burst of smoke, bubbles and magical essence motes as Hyottoko stood on top of the coffee table.

“Tah-dah, grand entrance!”

The coffee table broke with a crash and Hyottoko fell on his face and then rolled over himself making a hoop, flipping into the kitchen. Scooping up Okame, he turned to look at the rest of us. Okame clapping at the performance.

“Sorry about the table. Why do you all look so serious? Who died”

“My dad?”

"Well it's not like you killed him."

"I did."

Keisuke answered the arch monster flatly. Maybe he had sensed it coming, because he wasn’t surprised by his new house guest.

“Oh, um sorry. My condolences.”

He tipped his mask to him, and took out a monocle. Eyeing my brother like an appraisal.

“You got one tasty essence man. I’ve never sensed something like this. Have you ever considered a career in comedy?”

Kei looked at him, and blinked at the sudden change in subject.

“Not once.”

“Why not? Your essence would make the perfect punchline, no one would ever see it coming.”

The monster put Okame on his shoulders and began circling the room. Everyone was being too normal about the criminal in the room. I was strangely glad to see him though. He had escaped Japan's number one hunter.

“What’s this about a break in?”

We also did kind of need a criminal’s advice right now.

“We’ve got to find my friend; I haven’t seen him in two years but we don’t have any leads. We need to find what he was researching or where he’s gone. Maybe why his sister has replaced him?"

"And soon before they start investigating me for getting help from you. I'll help you and your sister find a place afterwards. Can you help us?"

Hyottoko suddenly had glasses and a long beard that he was stroking thoughtfully.

“Yeah sounds like fun, I love a mystery!”

I didn’t like it, but we were short on time. I was not about to go on a heist, with only a monster as my accomplice. Keisuke wasn’t leaving his house soon, I couldn’t ask Ms. Hiyori to be of any more help, a unicorn didn’t seem capable of a break in anyway. Okame may be a monster but she was still a child. I thought of the only person that I knew that might be capable of criminal activity. I sighed; my life had gotten much too complicated since becoming a platinum rank.

“Let me call Meika, she’s usually down for breaking the law.”