26: Finding "Yuki"

With the information in her hand, April wastes no time and contacts the investigator that used to work for her before. They meet up at the park where people rarely come during the night. April stays in the car and rolls down the window when the man she is supposed to meet parks beside her car. "Find out about these two," She points at the lower two names.

Passing the information through the car window, the investigator nods as he scans through the paper. He knows what to do without being told. The interaction between them usually occurred like this. The truth is, the investigator doesn't even know the other person is the famous model and daughter of the CEO of Stewart Inc, April Stewart. He just knows the other person is a very rich young woman. As an investigator, he fully understood that some people don't really want to expose themselves, especially if they are trying to do something bad anonymously.

April leaves the park as soon as she gives the paper. She doesn't want to linger around this place anymore as she knows this kind of place is usually the nest of paparazzi or journalists snooping around to find some juicy news.

After four days, the investigator contacts April again. April is currently busy with fashion shows so she can't leave as she will. She asked the investigator to come to the hotel where she resided and they met up in one of the room hotels. Of course, she can't invite the investigator to her room because nosy paparazzi are lingering near her hotel room. Dressing up as simple as she can with a mask and sunglasses on, April went to the room, two floors below.

"Here," The investigator gives an envelope to the young woman sitting crossing legs in front of him. This is the first time they meet face to face, even though both of them cover half of their face.

The investigator started his search around the Jade Host Club, where Mio Yukimura worked. He had to spend about $3000 for one night. The manager of the club won't let him come in and just asked random things about his ex-employee without paying for anything, so the investigator picked the top host (he became top after Mio Yukimura left) and even opened a Brandy for him. But his money is worth the information he got.

The host told him everything about Mio Yukimura. An easy going guy, loved by all customers, even other hosts can't hate him due to his friendly personality. However, Mio Yukimura suddenly stopped coming to the club and the next two days he sent a message to the manager saying that he wanted to quit to find some peace of mind somewhere else. No one knows where he went.

The host even gave a polaroid picture of him and Mio Yukimura that they took together during Mio Yukimura's birthday party. The host kindly gave him the pictures as he got a lot more. The investigator left the club as the time's up. The next day, he went to Hamada Yuki's home. He just followed the address stated on the paper and it leads him to an abandoned house. The house looks unoccupied but the house area is clean and well-taken care of.

The investigator stretched his neck, tried to look around but he couldn't find anyone inside the house. He was about to push open the wooden gate but he was startled when he heard three people clear their throats. The investigator turned around and met with the scrutinizing eyes of three middle-aged women.

"Go- Good afternoon, ladies..." He greeted. Those women keep staring at him.

The woman in the middle suddenly said, "Who are you? What are you doing here? This is not your house. Are you trying to steal?!" She raises her voice.

The investigator instantly waves his palm. "No! No! I'm...just trying to find someone."

"Who?" The chubby woman with a spatula in her hand speaks up.

"Ah...it's...Hamada Yuki."

"Why are you looking for him?" The woman with a frying pan said.

"I'm actually... his friend from middle school. I wanted to find him again because I had never heard about him since he left middle school. That's why...I'm here."

The woman in the middle crosses her arms on her chest and the other two put their hands on their hips, swaying their 'weapon'. The investigator swallowed his saliva.

"Why are you suddenly looking for him now? Yuki no longer lives here. Now, go!" The woman in the middle shooed him. The investigator moves left and right trying to avoid them but he won't leave not until he finds out something.

"Ple- please! I'm seriously looking for him." The investigator racks his brain trying to make up a story. Well, he can't call him an excellent investigator if he can't think fast.

"I- I wanted to repay him. Actually, we were in the same class and Ha- Yuki was really nice to me. He helped me a lot before but in the middle of the year suddenly my parents divorced and I was transferred to another school, following my dad. It was so sudden so I didn't have a chance to talk to him for the last time. Th- that's why I'm looking for him now."

Those women halted as the investigator lies through his white teeth. However, they are not that stupid to immediately believe a stranger. Plus, it is their first time meeting the young guy. The woman in the middle says, "We don't know where he went. He was taken away by his uncle. He never came back since then."

"Oh. I see. Perhaps, does the lady know who his uncle is?"

"No."

"Hmm...then, do you mind if I look into the house a little bit? I need his pictures so it will be easier to find him."

"No. We don't mind..." The investigator heaves a sigh of relief but instantly regrets, "but hope you don't mind if you were dragged away by police later on."

The investigator scratches his head. He needs at least a picture of Hamada Yuki but he doesn't know where else he can get it.

All the women saw him reluctant to leave and kept looking at the house. The woman with a spatula says, "If you want a picture of him go to the public hall of the community center. If you look around carefully, there might be pictures of him from years ago during the festival in the community. That's if you have so much time."

The investigator finally understood why she said "if you have so much time". The public hall is huge and bulletin boards are hanging on the hall wall. More than 20 boards and each board filled with fifty to hundreds of pictures. Only if he looks through every picture one by one, he can see the faces on the pictures. Thus, he spent two and a half days looking through the boards but what he found is only a group picture of the Hamada family with people of the community. He found that thanks to the names written below the pictures. He took the picture with him and tried to search for information using that picture. Too bad, everyone's face was too small and cannot be detected.

Back in the hotel room, the investigator was a bit nervous when his client flipped through the paper as information about Mio Yukimura finished. She even glanced at the polaroid picture then flipped it away. The investigator starts sweating because he found nothing about Hamada Yuki besides the picture with people's heads as tiny as a bean.

Unexpectedly, after a minute the young woman suddenly sits straight and her eyes bulging. Her hand holding the picture was a little bit trembling. Without removing her eyes from the picture, she asks, "Th- this... where did you get this?"

"I took it from the public hall of the community center. It was a picture from years ago. That's the only thing I could find about Hamada Yuki. I tried to sneak into the abandoned house but was stopped by the neighbors. They were quite loyal and didn't tell me anything. They just said Hamada Yuki was taken away by his uncle then never returned."

"I- It's him!" April raises her voice, startling the investigator. "So, he is Hamada Yuki..." she mumbles. Even though Yuki's face was really small in the picture, looks younger and has shorter hair but his facial features are still recognizable. He barely changed from back then, except for the slightly matured face and long hair.

April calms herself down. She opens her handbag, takes out a cheque book, and writes down five with four zeros at the back. She ripped it from the cheque book and handed it to the investigator. Looking at the satisfying amount, the investigator thanked her then left.

After the investigator leaves, April looks at the pictures again. Talking to herself, "So...your name is Hamada Yuki. Taken away by uncle...his name must be Hamada something, right?" Tapping on the armrest of the couch, "Why is it so hard to find out about you? What kind of secrets are you hiding? It must be something so important. Even Kevin tried to protect you. How did you even do that? Kevin never showed sympathy to anyone. Never cared for anyone other than his family. But you! Coming out of nowhere and suddenly got all his attention and care." Her nails started to dip in the couch.

April takes a deep breath. She throws the picture on the coffee table. "Well, no matter what you have done, I'll be taking what was originally mine."

.................

Meanwhile, at Tsujihara Group, the PA of the CEO walked so fast towards the largest office in the building. "Mr. Kevin, I received a report that said someone was lurking around Mr. Yuki's old house and trying to find out about him. Luckily, the neighbors prevented him from trespassing."

Kevin, who is signing a document, froze for a second. He continues as if he wasn't surprised before, "Who is he? What does he look like?"

"Our men asked the neighbors and they said that man told the ladies of the neighborhood he was Mr. Yuki's middle school friend. He wanted to meet Mr. Yuki so he could repay him. He wore a mask and a cap so his face cannot be recognized."

Kevin leans back on the chair, taps the pen on the table, and rubs his chin. "What else?"

"He said he wanted Mr. Yuki's picture so he could easily find him. The neighborhood ladies told him to go to the public hall of the community center to find it himself. He went there for two days and seems like he managed to get something because we found a missing picture from one of the bulletin boards inside the public hall."

"What kind of picture?"

"The ladies said it was a picture from a festival in the neighborhood from years ago. It was a group picture."

Kevin just hums. "It's okay. Just keep watching out at Yuki's house."

"Hmm...one more thing, the ladies said they were sorry because they never thought that guy was so persistent until he managed to get Yuki's pictures. They thought he might leave and won't take what they said seriously."

Kevin chuckles. "Never mind about that. By the way, send gifts to the ladies. Thanking them on my behalf for taking care of the house." Ellis nods then turns to leave the office.

Ellis made the best decision by pulling the neighborhood ladies to their side. He already met them before and asked them to help them take care of the house. At first, the ladies didn't believe him until he showed them Yuki's selfie with Kevin and told them that Yuki is safe right now but due to certain circumstances, Yuki cannot return to this house.

Hamada family was so well-known in the community years ago. They were known for their good nature. Even the young son, Hamada Yuki, was so sensible and well-behaved unlike other kids his age. The neighborhood ladies who were fond of the good kid that they missed so much immediately agreed. Ellis also introduced them to the two men that will stay around the house so they don't have to be alerted towards them.

With that smart move, anyone who dared to come closer to Yuki's house will have to face the neighborhood ladies. Besides, when they knew Yuki was still living healthy, they decided to help to clear out the house ground. Inside might be filled with clouds of dust but on the outside, the house looks so clean. They did this, in the hope one day, Yuki will return to this house and he will feel at home again.