T.A series Volume 2: The Illegitimate Extra

Chapter 4 - Setback

"What the hell!?" Emiko started, her voice full of disbelief as she pedals on her bike, "Did she really emotionally blackmailed the reporter!?"

"Yes,"Shinichi confirmed, holding onto his seat from the back of the bike

"I can't believe it," Emiko stressed. "How is it a 6 year old like Ranran know how to hack, let alone, navigate the dark web? I am nine years old, and I still can't hack."

Shinichi gave the rebellious artist a dirty glare. "She wouldn't have known if it hadn't been for her father's profession! That girl...she not only know how to drive an SUV, she learned how to do these...why didn't my parents teach me any of this...I am so far behind," he said angrily. The final bit was more of a mutter, but Emiko heard it anyhow.

And Emiko could tell. The younger boy's eyes were rimmed with dark circles and looked nearly bloodshot. He looked pale too.

"What the hell..." Emiko breathed, "Ranran knew how to hack into the dark web is just...wow."

"Honestly, I knew she was furious with the press, but I didn't think she was that vindictive enough to go that far!"Shinichi was shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

"Man, you had it rough, but you did well."

"That is the job of an apprentice," Shinichi responded sheepishly, but deep down, Emiko knew he is begrudging to be doing things beyond his apprenticeship. Judging his eyebags, he is exhausted from having to deal with Ranran's antics.

"Given her behaviour....I am pretty sure she isn't born normal," The artist pondered hard before questioning the association's apprentice, "Just out of curiosity, had she ever been checked by doctors to confirm whether any of her antics are....normal?" Emiko asked.

Shinichi opened his mouth, looking distinctly irritated, only to be cut off.

"No, seriously! None of this is normal! Even the naughtiest child around her age wouldn't go extremely far as any child I have ever come across whenever I collect intel!" Emiko insisted, openly concerned."I mean she knows how to use a freaking dark web and hacked into some reporter's place to blackmail them! This is abnormal behavior!"

Shinichi shot her a venomous look before his expression morphed into something resigned and admitting, "It's not like none of that was done."

"Yeah?" Emiko pressed. "And?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, looking at him like he was daft. "They say nothing is wrong medically."

"...then send her to do an MRI!" Emiko offered hesitantly. "At least—"

"No, Emiko, let me finish," Shinichi cut the other off. "Before I....decided to seek for apprenticeship under her, I asked around, and it turns out....a nurse who delivered her as a baby dropped her, her head was hit hard."

"EH!?" Emiko's mouth fell open, her hands tightening around the handlebars as she tried to process Shinichi's revelation. "Hard where!? On the floor!?"

"Yes, on the ground." Shinichi nodded grimly, his voice quiet but tinged with frustration, "Since that incident, her parents had her head checked in and out of over 50 hospitals in 6 months. The results are inconsistent! Some responded yes, while others said no!" As he talked, one of his hands waved erratically. "Believe me, they been there, done that. They gave up by the time they moved here!" His statements were presumably intended to come off as casual, but they ended up sounding unmistakably defeated.

Emiko found herself mouthing the number of trips Ranran was taken to the hospital, with a strange combination of terror and incredulity. 

"Anyway, at that time....I heard they had no money, so considering Ranran was at that time able to walk and talk, they thought nothing much of it," Shinichi shrugged. "Until..." He hesitated, his expression darkening. "Her parents started noticing little things, not that noticeable at first, but then it grew in an alarming rate as she grew up."