"Waka Murasaki" - Hikaru ga Chikyuu ni Itakoro......(Volume 3)

Chapter 4: I Was Looking for a Flower

It was Saturday the following day, but Koremitsu woke up earlier than usual.

He checked his cellphone messages, and found that Shioriko had yet to reply to the message he sent her.

"Let's go check her house after breakfast."

"Yes."

Hikaru, dressed in a singlet and pants for indoor use, nodded in response.

Laid on the tatami was a magazine he bought the previous day.

Inside it was the mass food poisoning incident during the Marine Day in Shimane Prefecture 10 years ago.

During that public event, the Kuze Corporation led by Chairman Kuze provided some seafood hamburgers to children.

However, approximately 30 of them complained of tummyaches, and were hospitalized.

The Chairman's Secretary, Mamoru Yoshikuni, who had attended the event, attempted to cover up this incident, but was discovered a few days later, and was lambasted by the mass media.

He had declared that he was acting on the Chairman's instructions, but Kuze was dining with associates in Tokyo that day.

Thus, everyone had assumed that Mamoru Yoshikuni was simply lying about following orders. It was also later discovered that Yoshikuni had accepted bribes from the food suppliers, and so people assumed that he had chosen to cover up this event itself, leading to a larger commotion.

Soon after, Mamoru Yoshikuni died. He was standing alone beside the train platform, and was knocked by the passing train. At that time, a witness had yelled "It's dangerous!", but he remained still with a lethargic look. The news outlets had deduced that he had intention to commit suicide, and Kuze resigned as executive chairman soon after.

The press conference that time was massive, and he clearly showed a professional attitude admitting to his responsibility. This overly formal attitude however caused his reputation to skyrocket.

But 10 years later, there was a media outlet casting doubt on it.

The report had hypothesized that perhaps Yoshikuni's statement was true, that Kuze really did push blame onto his secretary, and the bribes collected by the secretary was simply a skillful maneuver he had planned during the associate meeting.

It was a magazine that had tabloids as its selling point, so not all the reports within could be true. However, the person named Mamoru Yoshikuni did exist, and it was affirmed that he died in a suspected suicide.

Was he really Shioriko's father? If that was the case, how did Shioriko learn this? Did she really intend to avenge her father?

"The time to appeal has long since expired, and Mr Sōichirō will probably not be wary of a nine year old girl...what we should be worried about however is whether Shiiko really has the evidence that proves Mamoru Yoshikuni's innocence."

Koremitsu faced the basin as Hikaru floated behind him, saying this worriedly.

"First, we have to ask that brat."

The biggest issue was whether she would come clean with what was going on...

On Koharu's command before breakfast, Koremitsu hurriedly repaired the bathroom's drainboard.

Soon after, he immediately hurried to Shioriko's apartment, but there was no reply no matter how many times he pressed the doorbell.

"Is she still sleeping? it's already past 10. Have they gone out or something?"