Your Protector

Chapter 34

It was dark. In fact, it was considered too late for two high school students to be going to someone else's house and asking them questions regarding a murderer. However, Osoro insisted they go tonight as he discovered some pretty disturbing things on the Aishi's.

Thirty years ago, Ayato's mother, Ryoba Aishi, was accused of murdering a fellow classmate at Akademi High School. The man who accused her had also stated seeing her stalking an upperclassman, Jokichi Yudasei, who later disappeared for almost a year.

That's not the most disturbing part. Jokichi ended up marrying Ryoba a year after returning to society. To this day, no one knows what really happened to him, and he's now known as a very quiet and reserved man, most likely hiding a dark secret.

The girl that was murdered was said to have a crush on Jokichi, giving Ryoba a motive to murder. The man went to court with all the evidence he could gather... but it wasn't enough. The jury, as well as the majority of people in the country, found it hard to believe that such a cute, innocent-looking schoolgirl would outright murder a classmate just for the affections of a boy. It seemed ludicrous, and the evidence was purely speculation on the accuser's part.

In the end, Ryoba won the jury over and was found innocent. The man's reputation was ruined after that. He became a laughing stock, a mockery to everyone he knew. Embarrassed and defeated, the man left Japan and moved to America. No one really knows where he is or what he's doing now.

Taro was speechless when he heard all of this. A past student of Akademi was accused for murder, just like Budo, but who's to say Ryoba was innocent? Osoro didn't mention that any evidence proving Ryoba innocent was found. No wonder the police were so stubborn about listening to Budo's side of the story. They didn't want to get into another controversy with an Aishi.

He asked Osoro how this had remained under wraps for so long, and the delinquent speculated that it was to save Akademi's reputation, which would explain why the headmaster took Budo's arrest so hard.

What concerned Taro the most was the unexplained disappearance and reappearance of Ayato's father. How does a person disappear without a trace, and then reappear without a reason, continuing on with life without thousands of questions surrounding him every day?

He didn't like knowing that Ryoba was accused of stalking him in high school right after Budo speculated that Ayato was pining for him. Things were looking like history was going to repeat itself, and he was terrified of what the future held for him and Budo.

Together, Osoro and Taro stood on the Aishi's porch. Just in case, Osoro carried the Yakuza's gun in his belt. They were entering the home of a potential murderer, it would be a foolish move to not have a weapon on hand.

Taro took a deep, shaky breath, before ringing the doorbell. Moments later, Ayato's father answered it.

"Oh, good evening, boys. May I help you?"

Taro and Osoro bowed to the older man. "Good evening, Mr. Aishi. My name is Yamada Taro, and this is Shidesu Osoro. We're students from Akademi High School—Osoro is actually in your son's class—and we would like to ask you and your family some questions."

Jokichi felt like someone punched him in the chest. He managed to hide his panic physically, but internally, he felt like fainting. His voice nearly got caught in his throat. "About what?"

"Darling, who's at the door? Oh!" his wife asked as she walked up to him. When she spotted the two boys on the porch, she was surprised, specifically by the sight of a certain boy she ended up recognizing.

"Uh sweetie, these are students from Akademi, and they want to ask us some questions," Jokichi explained, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Ryoba maintained a sweet, bubbly look, to the point that Taro and Osoro felt it was fake. No, scratch that, it was fake, and her husband was acting fake as well. There was a lot of apprehensiveness emitting from them both, and Osoro was glad he had his gun with him.