A Little Twist

Thirty-Three

Waiting for the others, Reiji sips his tea. What do we do with Moriko? I'm sure the others can promise not to drink until Risa is unconscious. The situation with Moriko is more peculiar. 

'Why must this be the first thing in the early afternoon?' whines Kanato while arriving in the living room. 

'Yours Truly likes to know that too.' 

'Stop calling yourself that.' Subaru doesn't even glance at his brother and stays close to the wall. 'What is this about? Not to drink too much when we bite Risa?' 

Laito adjusts his fedora. 'The real question is about Moriko. Will we let her out of the dungeon or not? She does spend an awful lot of time down there.' 

'There are two questions that Risa came to me about. One, what do we do with Moriko? Mostly because she is downstairs a lot. Two, can you promise her not to drink until she's unconscious,' explains Reiji as Shu pops up on the other couch. 

Ayato shakes his head. 'Why us? It means you too, you know.' 

'I promised her early this morning before I went to bed. It's Daiki who needs her attention most. That is different with Moriko.' Reiji won't look at the others. 'I'll set her free for now because I'm not taking food to her. Make no mistake, she's not allowed to use the kitchen. Not even to get herself a drink.' 

Laito chuckles. 'Do I look like a butler? I am not going to serve her anything. Instead, she should be serving me.' He stops talking. Oh, I'm going to have fun making her serve me. I have just the right outfit for that. 

'It doesn't matter if you have to punish her by drinking too much or taking her downstairs, but you don't get to kill her,' reminds Shu with his eyes closed. 'Don't forget why she's here.' 

'True, I don't know how Risa does it but Daiki doesn't cry much.' Kanato likes the silence. 

'I'm positive that you're used to the baby and his cries,' smiles Ayato. 

Subaru hears something above him. 'What if Risa sees her and she tries something to frame her? She tried framing Risa for breaking one of your tea sets.' 

'Seriously, tableware,' reacts Ayato but then the words sink in. 'Wait, what? Why would she try and frame Risa?' 

Kanato's eyes dart between his brother and Reiji. 'Why not test her for stupidity? She tried baking apple pie but decided to cook the apple parts first.' 

'I thought I smelled apple.' Laito rolls his eyes. 'It's more amusing to see her squirm trying to frame Risa. We know that she won't do anything because Daiki is her first and foremost priority. She's smarter than that.' 

Reiji knows he's right about Risa. 'Regardless, Risa's attention is for Daiki. Not for Moriko, she's old enough to know better.' He folds his hands together. 'Now, about Risa and your promise not to drink too much?' 

'That won't be a problem since we have Moriko.' Laito makes a mental note to make the promise to Risa soon. 'I'll go to Risa after this conversation.' 

'Don't go all at the same time and do it today.' Reiji said enough and goes back to his room. 

*** 

Feeling much better after a shower, Moriko wanders around. So far, I have found Kanato and Reiji's bedroom. I also know where Risa's room is. She shakes her head in disbelief. I've seen the baby too after hearing him. Perhaps because it's useless to hide him after his cry. She opens a door and stands still for a moment. Who on earth sleeps in a coffin? On further inspection, she finds a knife. Looks precious to me. But whose room is this? Doesn't really matter. I could place this knife in Risa's room but will it be enough? She's done too much. Is she trying to get rid of me? Must be for the baby, she doesn't want me around the others. Why didn't she say who the father is? I saw Laito being protective over them both. Is he the father? With only questions, she walks out of the room and hides the knife. Where could I hide it to incriminate Risa?