A Potential Lead

Now that I have finished talking to Arisu, I need to find a way to deal with this. There was no way I could somehow get 130 million yen, and even if I were to pay up the sum, there was no guarantee that they wouldn't try to get involved with us again.

Thinking back to the SUV I saw a few hours ago, I am fairly certain that they were a part of the Yakuza and since I have memorised the car's number plate, I may have some sort of a lead. However, there's also the possibility that the number plate could be stolen, or forged, so there's always the possibility that it would lead me to a dead end.

In the letter they left, they did provide an address where I would need to go. Still, I'm sure that's not a building they own, but something they plan to rent out for our future meeting.

Still, considering that at the moment I don't have any other leads, I decided to call one of my good friends, Ken. We met in a game a few years ago, and we have become quite close.

When we became friends I still didn't know what his occupation was, but I soon came to know it. He's a hacker. When I found out, as expected I was surprised. But, he's a good guy. In fact, what he does is ethical hacking. Companies contact him to identify vulnerabilities or security issues that their systems may have.

Anyway, he of course is skilled in the normal kind of hacking too so he's my best choice here.

"Hey Ken. I have a favour to ask of you."

"Hi Arata. Do you need more money for that gacha of yours, or do you want to go for a few rounds?"

"While I am always up for more gacha money or to play with you, this time it's actually serious. My brother has been kidnapped. The kidnappers are demanding about 130 million yen, and they are threatening to kidnap my sister as well if I don't pay the money."

"Oh, that sounds serious. So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Could you help me find out who's behind the kidnapping? Also, it would help me a ton if you could also get their location."

"You do realise that I can't find their location without any clues, right? Tell me what you know."

I described to him the SUV I saw, and told him its plate number. I left out the suspicious woman I saw, since I don't think it would help in any way.

"I got it. Give me about a few hours, I'll try to gather info to the best of my abilities. Don't forget that now you owe me one."

"Yeah, thanks.."

And I hung up. Now that Ken is involved, the likelihood of finding the SUV's location and owners is high. But… Let's say that he manages to get the details, what can I even do?

I don't know the reason why my father took such a big debt, and who he took the loan from. But no ordinary organization could easily give out that much money, so I think they're dangerous.

I could go and try to negotiate with them, though I don't think that would go too smoothly, since they just appeared out of nowhere and got us in this situation. There was always the option to try and fight them, but the outcome wouldn't be too pretty for me. In any case, I could worry about it when the time came for it.

I went to the window and opened it, and what greeted me was a pleasant breeze. While I was talking with Ken, the sun went down and in its stead the moon was brightly shining. Seeing as this was lovely weather for a walk, I decided to go on one.

As I was walking without any destination in mind, out of the corner of my eye I saw Rem. She was in front of a store, looking at the products they had on display. You know, the usual thing girls like to do.

I called out to her, "Good evening Rem."

"Good evening Arata. What are you doing this late at night?"

Now that I got closer to her, I could clearly see that she was looking at light novels. Huh, so she actually reads books?

"I thought it was a pleasant evening, so I went out on a walk. What about you? I see you are interested in light novels?"

"Yeah, well… I have an older brother who is into this kind of thing, so somewhere along the way, I picked up his love for novels."

Oh, so she had an older brother. Color me surprised.

"Ah, I get it. What's your favourite genre?"

"I like to read Shoujo."

So she loves those kinds of novels… Shoujo itself wasn't really a genre, but it indicates the target demographic. Shoujo is aimed at young women and it mostly focuses on romance, relationships and personal growth.

"That's great. I hope you can find a good book."

"Yeah."

And… Our conversation died right there. To be honest, it was quite awkward. She continued to look at the books on the shelf through the window, and I just stood there.

"Oh, look at the time. I think it's time to go."

"Okay, see you tomorrow Arata."

"Yeah, good night."

Since I went out on a walk as planned, there wasn't really anything else I had left to do. So I started walking back to my apartment. Looking back, Rem also probably went home.

Some time later after I got home Arisu came back and she looked rather tired.

"I'm back."

"Welcome back."

"I'm exhausted. Did you go out to buy groceries?"

"Yeah, I also cooked some simple dinner, if you'd like."

On days when my sister would have night shifts, I'd be the one cooking dinner and today was no exception. Even after everything that happened I had to act normal so that I won't make Arisu worry.

"Of course, thank you as always."

"Yeah."

"So…I've been meaning to ask you since I came home but, why did Akira suddenly go to sleep over at a friend's house?"