Chapter 21 - Letter from a friend

A/N:

Here's the chapter for today. For those upset that I can't upload daily, all I can say is there's nothing I can do to change the situation since it's out of my control. Also, please remember I'm doing this for free. For now, this will be the upload schedule until I have more free time.

As always, thanks for reading!

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After they finished breakfast, the entire group arrived at the hospital using Saitou's car. While Jason would have preferred directly running to the hospital from the rooftops, Ruby was quite adamant in making him stay, and Saitou and Miyako knew he didn't own a car.

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{Inside the hospital}

While everyone walked, Ruby skipped towards Ai's room while humming one of Ai's songs.

"Ruby, slow down," Miyako called out while cupping her mouth.

Ruby just kept going and replied jokingly, "Yes, Mama. I'll be careful."

Miyako let out an exasperated sigh, her shoulders slumping in frustration. "That girl just won't sit still."

"Give her some slack. She's only seen her mother once or twice these past two weeks," said Jason as he took a glance at Aqua calmly walking in hand with Miyako. While Aqua wasn't as expressive as Ruby in terms of facial expressions or tone of voice, his body language told a completely different story.

"We wanted to take them to visit Ai more often, but we've been drowning in work and they have school during the weekdays. It doesn't help that the media went wild over the news of a stalker stabbing her, piling up more work on our plate," added Saitou, as he checked his phone for any important messages from their associates and replying to them.

When it was announced that Ai Hoshino, the rising star of the entertainment industry, had been stabbed by a stalker, the news was on the lips of nearly every Japanese citizen.

But spread out among the shock, horror, and sympathy from the public and her fans were also some cruel and insensitive comments and remarks.

< @x_69_xxx: Should've just finished herself off. Lol. >

< @y_1000_yyy: That stalker guy realized that Ai had a man. >

< @k_giiiiii1iku: If so, it's hardly surprising she got stabbed. >

After the police caught the stalker, Jason expected the news of Ai having twins to become the next big news and spread like wildfire, but the stalker surprisingly kept his mouth shut and only told them that someone had leaked Ai's address to him.

Jason didn't know if the stalker found the heart to not reveal Ai's secrets, or if he just felt guilty and was paying for what he did in his own way.

Aside from that, the stalker's confession of murdering someone was not included in the news, which meant the police were either still investigating the case, or they've already charged him for it and are keeping the news of the murder from the media.

Jason's brows furrowed. 'Something is still bugging me, though. What are the motivations of their father, Hikaru? Why doesn't he just reveal the fact that Ai has children? It would ruin her career, which is what I thought to be what he wanted, but I've changed my mind. Maybe he just wants Ai to die… But why?'

His mind was filled with an endless amount of hypothesized deductions based on theoretical factors, but in the end, he couldn't reach a sure conclusion.

'I need to do some more investigation. Finding Hikaru would be ideal, but the bastard disappeared somehow, and as far as I know, the last time anyone saw him was on his university campus.'

Ruby took a right and her eyes almost immediately locked onto a masked figure sitting on one of the chairs. She shouted in excitement, "Ma—!"

Miyako, Saitou, and Aqua's eyes slowly widened. Jason snapped out of his train of thought, stepping forward and covering Ruby's mouth before she could finish her sentence.

The surrounding people curiously turned their heads in Jason's and Ruby's direction, wondering why the child suddenly shouted.

"Sorry about that," Jason smiled and bowed his head apologetically.

Everyone's eyes now locked onto Jason's figure. In their mind, they didn't notice him at all until he spoke, but the moment they saw his face, they were mesmerized.

The cheeks of every woman and teenage girl in the hall were dyed red as they stared at him, and even the guys in the hall did a triple take.

"She's just very excited. You'll behave now. Won't you, Ruby?"

Ruby nodded, and only then did Jason remove his hand, bowing his head to the surrounding people again before moving on towards Ai. From their position, they could Ai sitting on a chair just outside her room. She had hidden her face beneath a face mask, sunglasses, and a cap, and wore a white dress shirt and jeans.

"Psst, hey Jason-san," Ruby whispered to him as they walked to Ai and he looked in her direction. She sent glances at the people around them before continuing with a playful smile, "Maybe you should wear a mask, too. Everyone's whispering and staring at you. I don't blame them. I'd be doing the same if I saw a guy that somehow looked better than a supermodel."

Nodding his head in agreement at her suggestion, Jason smiled wryly at her words. She spoke as if she was a teenager. "I'll wear one later. Ignore them for now."

Sensing something strange in the atmosphere, Ai looked up from her phone and followed the direction everyone in the hall seemed to stare at. Jason waved at her with a friendly smile, and for a moment, she was hypnotized by it before she opened her arms just in time to catch her little bundle of joy.

"Mama!" Ruby whispered happily in her mother's arms. "I missed you so much!"

Ai gently caressed Ruby. "I missed you too, Ruby. Where's your brother and the others?"

Ruby slightly pulled back and pointed behind her. "Right there."

Ai quickly spotted her son jogging towards her and opened her arms, embracing him along with Ruby. Giggling with joy, she said, "I missed you too, Aqua! Have you two eaten well?"

Aqua nodded wordlessly, but with a smile on his face.

"Ah!" Ruby quickly gasped, remembering this morning's breakfast. "Mama, Mama." She slightly shook her mother.

"Hm? What is it, Ruby?" Ai asked as she patted Aqua's head.

"Jason-san can cook really well! He cooked breakfast earlier, and it tasted so good! That's when I started thinking and…"

Ai tilted her head with a smile, curious. "And…?"

Ruby gave Jason a quick glance before cupping a hand to Ai's ear and whispering, "Can Jason-san be our Papa?"

Ai's expression froze, and her thoughts halted for a moment.

Seeing the strange look on her mother's face, Ruby looked at Ai with concern. "Mama? Are you okay?"

Miyako and Saitou caught up with them and had puzzled looks on their faces. They began wondering why Ai's expression was frozen before they looked at Ruby. When they remembered what had occurred earlier at Jason's condo, everything clicked.

Just a short distance away from them, Jason held his face and sighed. Despite her whispering, he heard Ruby loud and clear.

"This girl…"

A short moment passed before Ai's brain finished rebooting. She blinked and asked, "Umm… Why do you want Jason-san to be your Papa?"

Ruby grew excited and began listing her reasons while raising a finger for each one. "Because he cooks really well. He's kind. He's probably strong because he has big muscles. And… Um… Oh, because he's our hero!"

"Our hero?" asked Ai. Did Ruby know about his powers?

"Yeah!" Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Jason-san saved Mama! That makes him our hero!"

"Ah…" Ai nodded, finally understanding what Ruby meant. "Well…"

"Alright, that's enough." Jason interrupted before they could get more distracted. "Sorry about that, Ai. I don't know what got into her all of a sudden."

"Oh. Hello, Jason-san!" Ai flashed him her trademark smile, though he couldn't see it through the mask and the sunglasses. "It's okay! I'm the one who should be apologizing."

"How are you feeling, Ai?" Saitou asked with concern.

"I'm feeling better than ever!" Ai gave a thumbs up. "They said I'm able to leave now, so let's go!"

Ai stood up, holding her children's hands and paused when she noticed the height difference between her and Jason. She had to stretch her neck to even look at his face up close since the top of her head only reached the middle of his chest.

"Amazing… I couldn't tell the difference before because I was on the bed, but you really *are* tall, Jason-san," she exclaimed in amazement.

Jason chuckled. "You might not believe it, but I recently had a growth spurt. I was only 183cm (6ft) tall before."

"Wait, really?! How old are you again, Jason-san?" asked Ai as they headed out of the hospital.

"I'm… 21 years old." He sometimes forgot how young he still was.

"Wow…" they all exclaimed.

"Well, are you ready to go home, Ai?" Saitou asked with a smile. A surge of happiness welled inside him as he looked at Ai and her children. He didn't know why, but ever since the stabbing, they had grown closer. Regardless, he was glad nothing worse happened to Ai.

In response to Saitou's question, Ai removed her sunglasses and lowered her mask, revealing her trademark smile.

"Of course!"

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Laughter and cheerful voices echoed in Jason's condo. They had begun celebrating Ai's return.

Saitou, Miyako, and Jason all drank the fancy alcohol, but Ai refrained from drinking since she was still recovering. Ruby and Aqua happily sat beside their mother on the sofa while Jason prepared some snacks.

As Jason put down a plate of food on the table, the doorbell rung.

"Huh… Are you expecting someone, Jason-san?" asked Ai as she picked up and ate a piece of sushi.

"No. I'll go check who it is," said Jason as he walked towards the front door. However, he prepared himself for a confrontation.

Ever since he got used to his enhanced senses, he had been using it all the time, and whoever was at the door was someone he couldn't sense at all. He neither smelled nor heard anything when he could even hear an alarm ring multiple blocks away. The person's presence was undetectable as well, and there should be no one able to hide their presence from him unless they had powers or they were someone like Joe.

Jason calmly opened the door, but there was no one there. He checked both sides of the hallway and found no one. The only thing he found was mail on the ground.

[That thing is covered in so much Dark Energy, but for some reason, I can't sense its presence.]

He picked it up and opened it, extracting a letter from it.

[Dear Jason Todd,

This will come as a surprise to you, but I know who you are and where you come from. If you're interested in learning more, meet me at XXXXXX XXXXXXX tomorrow at 6:00PM. Don't be late.

Your friend,

Hikaru Kamiki C.K.

P.S. By the way, if you don't come, Ai and our children will have... very tragic ends.]

Jason crumpled the paper and crushed it in his hand before tossing it on the ground.

"Wheatley, extract the energy."

[Right.] Wheatley emerged in stealth mode and began the extraction, tendrils of pitch black energy connecting him and the letter.

'Hikaru wants to play the villain?'

Jason clenched his fists. His fury raged inside him, wanting to be released.

'𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲.'