Chapter 13: The Meeting

The Next Day

 The streets of Maple Diamond are now starting to be covered with snow as the first snowfall starts. Vincent now wearing a coat is working at the store plaza for some hot food so he can relax and sit at home and review some documents. The documents were from the manor that he took on his first shift. Vincent had a bad feeling about Toshiro and how he explained the situation quickly without giving away too many details. Vincent wanted the truth of what the hell his father was doing. However, he felt a strange kind of sympathy for his dad as this happened after his mom's death which seemed to have affected him more than himself. He entered the local fried chicken place to pick up a meal where a familiar face was ordering a meal. It was Diego who looked at Vincent before looking away. Vincent just ignored it before going to make his order. Diego's order was done first so he was walking out before going right next to Vincent. "So Vincent do you eat fast food every day or are you just treating yourself" asked Diego in a smug tone. Vincent called Diego a hypocrite as he was at a fried chicken place but Diego simply nodded his head before explaining. "I just got a raise so I decided to reward myself with some junk food" explains Diego. Vincent asked why he was explaining why he was eating fried chicken. Diego apologized for his comment and asked what his favourite coffee type was, medium or light. Vincent said medium which made Diego reply with an okay before saying his favourite was light. "Did you just pick the one I didn't choose" asked Vincent with a bored expression. "No I just like the flavor and texture of it, it's not that complicated" explained Diego. Vincent asked Diego what he wanted and if it happened to have to do something with the Ribbon killer.

Diego denied that notion and explained he just wanted to have a small talk with him. Diego also lets Vincent know that not everything needs to be overly complicated but can even be simple. The Ribbon Killer is just a psychopath that kills whoever wants so it is not that deep. "So you have nothing new to add then Diego" asked Vincent. Diego then refuted this by asking if Vincent had learned anything new. Vincent's mind wandered to the Utah Raptors Vincent saying I guess I did. Diego wore a shocked face but wasn't surprised. Diego decided that was his clue to leave but before he did he was reminded that he should make his food instead of having fast food all the time. He nods his head at Diego's comment before waiting for his order. After grabbing his order Vincent left for home but was on his way home. He saw his neighbours outside, looking like a fight was happening which caused Vincent to say in his head oh they are at it again. He continued walking forward but kept his ears open to hear what was being said. He knows it is wrong to listen to others' conversations without them knowing but who can resist some good gossip? He was also curious about the fact the parents were gone with their favourite son for a while just recently and left the others at home. The parents seem to be asking the daughter to come into the car but the daughter points to the youngest child who looks indifferent to the situation. Once he came close, he began to hear more about what they were saying. The older daughter asked about Rei but the mother said he could care for himself. Vincent thought about the mother's comment and that it didn't make sense since the kid looked like he was ten. Vincent asks if they need a babysitter to avoid hearing the fight go on any longer. 

Rei's parents agreed to Vincent's request and said they would be home by 6:00 pm before taking the older daughter in their car and leaving. Vincent took Rei into his house once Rei's family had left and led him to the kitchen. "So are you hungry" asked Vincent, Rei said he wasn't hungry at the moment. Vincent then sets up a game console for Rei to play and once he is done, he hands him a controller to play. The game was a stereotypical kid-friendly game with monsters playing sports. Once Rei was preoccupied Vincent went to his kitchen and placed some frozen foods like nuggets, fries and pizza in the oven to eat. He notified Rei that he put some food in the oven before sitting on the table next to Rei checking his notes. The notes were of dinosaur profiles, specifically dinosaurs created by his father. However, something was wrong with the number of dinosaurs from what Toshiro said there should only be 7. The seven dinosaurs are the Baryonyx, Dilphosaurus, and the five Utahraptors but the profiles indicated two more Dinosaurs. Two Carnosaur were also in the profiles and the profile showed the status. The Baryonyx and the two Carnosaurs had surprising statuses with the Baryonyx being labelled with Put down (Deceased) while The Carnosaurs were labelled with Alive. The Dilphosaurus and five Utahraptors had the expected status of deceased for the Dilphosaurus and alive for the five Utahraptors. Suddenly a voice called Vincent asking why he was reading dinosaur profiles. Vincent lied and explained it was just a hobby he liked to do. Rei was about to say something but stopped himself and looked away which caused Vincent to say "What's wrong Rei". Vincent then asked him if he had something to say which caused Rei to stammered. Rei said in a concerned voice "Is Maria okay and did they find her yet". Vincent just remembered Rei was a part of that group but wasn't as loud as the others so he forgot he was involved. Vincent replied "Well Pal we don't know where she is right now but we should be able to find her soon" in a reassuring voice.