Chapter 42

"So, how did your talk with Alice go?" Megumi asked at the end of the day. They were on the way back to the Den after spending the rest of the afternoon in the orphanage. However, Alice decided to leave, saying that she had a lot to think about.

"It is alright, I guess." Hiroyuki hummed as he thought about his conversation with Alice. "She tried to recruit me to the Totsuki Group. Unfortunately, I don't have an interest in joining that group. I also said a lot of things that probably feels like a slap for Alice. But it will wake her up from her little dream world into reality." Megumi nodded at what Hiroyuki said.

"Good. Even if she is not as bad as her cousin, she still has this arrogance that thinks she is higher than everyone. It will be good if she can change how she acts." Hiroyuki snorted.

"Don't be too hopeful. If humans could change just by a conversation like that, we don't need a prison anymore." He paused, thinking about Alice once again. "However, I have to say that I hope the same. Alice is far smarter than her cousin. It is just, everyone has been licking her feet since she was a child, so she didn't know how to act to people like us who didn't bow to her. Surrounded by people who are not afraid of her family will be good for her."

There is a silence between them as they walked toward the Den. Then, Hiroyuki suddenly remembers that they were invited to have dinner with the quintuplets.

"Do you know why the quintuplets invite us for a dinner?" He asked curiously.

"I have an idea about what they want to talk about, but I might be wrong. I think they want to talk about their choices for their high school. They have their dreams, but they don't want to be separated from each other."

Hiroyuki's face darkened when he heard that. For quintuplets, to have a dilemma of not wanting to be separated even for school while they have their own dreams, it only means one thing. They believe they only have each other to care about them. To have such a thought, where are their father?

"Speaking of quintuplets," Megumi's voice snapped Hiroyuki from his mind. "Have you found anything about their father?" Hiroyuki frowned at that.

"Why do you ask about that?"

"Since Nino worked here, I have tried to make her talk about their father. But she seems to avoid talking about it. Then, just like what you said when we first met the quintuplets, they have a sign of being abused. I'm just concerned if it is their father who did that." Hiroyuki hummed for a while before he replied,

"Indeed, I found something strange about their father. But not only Maruo Nakano, their father, there is also something suspicious about their biological father, the late husband of Rena-san, a man named Mudou."

"Oh? Please, do tell." Megumi turned her attention to Hiroyuki, looking at him curiously.

"It is a bit hard, but I managed to find out about Rena-san's personal life. Her first husband was someone called Mudou, but I could not find his family name. He was a headmaster in the school Rena-san taught.

But it seems their marriage life was not successful. A month before Mudou's supposed death, Rena-san submitted a divorce paper that said Mudou abused her several times. Her claim was supported by a doctor in one of the biggest hospitals in Tokyo. Care to take a guess who was the doctor?" Megumi narrowed her eyes.

"Maruo Nakano?"

"Correct. He was the one who supported Rena-san's claim about being abused. But before they were called to the court, Mudou suddenly died, and the doctor who was in charge before he died was also Maruo Nakano. Strange, isn't it?" Megumi furrowed her eyebrows deeply.

"What do you mean when you said about Mudou's supposed death? Do you believe he didn't die?"

"I don't know about that, since I could not see Mudou's medical record. However, I found it strange that Maruo Nakano decided to take responsibility for Mudou's death by paying for his funeral, but he asked to hold it privately. Nobody except Maruo Nakano and Rena-san know where is his grave. And to make it worse, my father was somehow involved in Mudou and Maruo Nakano's affair." Megumi stopped walking as she stared into Hiroyuki's eyes in shock.

"I found the copy of my father's bank account when I checked my father's old document last month. It seems my father received some money from Maruo Nakano and transferred it to the bank account with the name of Teito High School, the school that Mudou led. But the money was still transferred even after his death, and it is strange as my father was not even an alumnus of that school. That is why I guess Mudou is not really dead."

"..... When did that happen?" Megumi asked lowly.

"It was about twelve years ago when the quintuplets were still two years old. They would have no idea about that." They both let out a tired sigh simultaneously.

"What a mess. Knowing about my father, it would probably be one of his shady businesses. I just hope whatever we find later, it would not affect the quintuplets or us deeply." Hiroyuki muttered.

"Do you think we should hire a private detective to investigate it? There is a rumor in the next town about a good detective called Kogoro Mouri. I think it is worth a try."

Hiroyuki widened his eyes in surprise as he heard the name of the detective from the Detective Conan series. In his first life, he didn't really like the series. But he still read it just enough to spend his time. If Kogoro Mouri just started gaining his reputation, that means Conan Edogawa has appeared in this world.

"I don't want something that happened twelve years ago to affect the quintuplet's life right now. So, we have to talk about it to the quintuplets first before we hire a detective." Hiroyuki said.

Inwardly, he was worried that somehow his father had a deal with the black organization. He didn't want to jinx it. But knowing his father's greed, there is a possibility that something like that happened. He has to start investigating Detective Conan's timeline to know what would happen and make a plan to anticipate it if somehow, he got involved in the conflict.

"Does Kiyoko know about it?" Megumi's sudden question successfully gained Hiroyuki's attention. Hiroyuki snorted before replying,

"Of course, she knows. She was the most adamant one to investigate since I mentioned the possibility of abuse. She was quite appalled when she knew father was involved in all of this shit. It seems she took quite a liking to Itsuki, the youngest of them five."

"Oh, are you talking about me?" A sudden voice snapped their attention, and they just realized they are already in front of the Den with Kiyoko waiting for them.

"Yup, we are talking about how you bugged me to search out about the quintuplets for the last month." Kiyoko pouted for a moment before she turned serious.

"So, have you talked about what we found with Megumi-san?" Hiroyuki nodded at her question.

"Yes, I have talked to her. But, just like what I said to you, it happened twelve years ago. So, if we wanted to do something about it, we have to ask the quintuplets first since it would affect their lives the most."

"What do you think about it, Megumi-san?"

"I agree with your brother in this case. The quintuplets just started to trust us. Let's not throw their trust by doing something like this from their back." Kiyoko nodded, accepting her answer.

"So, any of you know where to go?" Hiroyuki cursed as he saw both of them shake their head. He checked his phone to see if Nino sent a message about where to go. Seeing as there is no message, he wanted to call Nino. However, before he could do that, he heard someone ask,

"Excuse me, are you Hiroyuki Hori-sama?" He turned around just to see an old man wearing butler clothes standing in front of them.

"Indeed, I am Hiroyuki Hori. What can I do for you?" Hiroyuki replied politely.

"My name is Ebata, and I am the driver of the Nakano family. Nino-sama asked me to pick you up for the dinner. Are you ready?" This stunned Hiroyuki as he could only nod to answer Ebata's question. His jaw dropped once again when he saw the limousine car waiting for them outside the Den. He could hear Kiyoko mutter from behind,

"With how Itsuki acted, I forgot how rich she and her siblings are."

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Author note:

You can also read:

- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 49

- Naruto: Ashigaru up to chapter 15

You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)