Trigger Locked: The Mind Control Assassins

Chapter 6

Since I can't contact Shiori, I don't have any choice other than to go to her house. I have a feeling that something bad must have happened to her. "I understand that you're worried about her, but you can't go. You've just recovered. There's no way you should go in a condition like this," Ms. Shoko says to me. She's against the idea of me heading to Shiori's house right now.

I clench my fist when Ms. Shoko tries to stop me. I feel frustrated that Ms. Shoko doesn't allow me to go there. "What do you want me to do then? Do you expect me to wait here and do nothing? I can't just stay here when I already know something bad must have happened to her!" I yell at her.

Dad doesn't say anything despite Ms. Shoko's opposition. "Shoko, you're right about that," dad says, "But we still need to check on her." Dad then looks at me. "Since Yuuto is in school right now, Azuma will replace him as a sniper. I'll be there as well. I won't let the same thing happened to you again."

Ms. Shoko seems surprised with dad's sudden reaction. "Minoru, I thought that you won't take action when things are uncertain?" She asks dad. Dad sighs as he answers Ms. Shoko's question. "I usually don't, but I do think that there is a possibility that Satoru Yuuya is with her. Even I also agree with Touka that we can't just sit here and wish for the best. That won't work."

Ms. Shoko gets up after that. "If that's the case, we'll send you the reinforcement to help you. This is a rescue mission anyway. We need as much support as we can." Ms. Shoko leaves so then she can begin making a request to help us. "Touka, I think you're better off running to her house instead of going there with a car. Yotsuya isn't that far from here, so it's faster that way. Leave once you're ready," dad says to me.

I nod and go inside my room to make preparation. Dad is right about that. It's much faster for me to just run off to Yotsuya instead of going there with a car. Besides that, it's better for us to go on a separate way. Dad probably has other things to do before he heads to her house. So, it's better for me to go ahead first just to observe the situation.

I leave the house as soon as the preparation is complete. On my way to Shiori's house, I receive a connection from Ms. Chiyo through my earpiece. "Guys, I've found a lot of surveillance devices in her house," she says to us, "I have hijacked one of them. According to the backlog, Shiori had left her house with her manager since yesterday."

With Shiori not coming home since yesterday, it makes sense that she hasn't called me. Maybe there's nothing wrong with her. She's unable to call me because she's busy with her work. "But that's not all," Ms. Chiyo continues, "It seems that they only monitored the call she made to Touka. I've yet to find out why, so I'll let you know when I find anything else."

They only monitored my calls with Shiori? Why in the world they want to do that? It's not like we're talking anything confidential or anything that threaten them. "Ms. Chiyo, do you know who place the surveillance devices in her house? It feels creepy that Muse Agency will go that far just to keep track of their idols," I say to her.

Ms. Chiyo replies to me a couple of minutes later. "Well, they're the same as the one we've used to keep an eye on those researchers. So, I don't think the agency is the one who placed them. One possibility can be Satoru Yuuya. If Shiori has been his target all along, it's not surprising that he's monitoring her. He can use Shiori to threaten us because he already knows your relationship with her."

Damn! So, what we do now is according to Satoru Yuuya's plan? I can't say for sure yet, but I still need to hurry. Shiori can be in danger if we're too late. "Touka, I'm already at a place not far from her house," Mr. Sakakibara says to me, "I don't see anyone in her house. I will inform you if someone comes in."

I finally reach Shiori's house a few minutes later. It seems like I reach here faster than I've estimated. "I already reach the target location. This posh apartment building has a concierge, so I'm going to ask them about Shiori. I'm going to cut my communication temporary. I don't want them to feel suspicious about me."