Preparations

2 days later, Yagita was with Aihara again. It was a bright, sunny and hot day. This time, they looked for clues regarding the locations of the remaining fragments of the staff.

They were in Yagita's car, on their way to the Utari mansion, where Aihara and Fuhira grew up, and their father lived.

"So Fuhira really isn't coming?" Yagita asked.

"I told you he wasn't going to. He hates our father more than anything in this world"

"wow"

"Yeah, our dad might have pushed him more than necessary when we were kids. Hira also blames the old man and I for the accident that led to his robotic implants."

After a few seconds, she asked again, "why would he blame you?"

"He says I didn't stand up to old man while all this was going on"

"What about you? Didn't you hate him too"

"At first I did. After Fuhira left the mansion, things got harder for me, I guess, but it was easier to go through the daily intense training sessions knowing that Fuhira was safe and out of my father's reach"

"Why did you both have to go though all that training?"

"According to my father, it was for times likes these, to make sure we were prepared for anything. Even though he won't admit it, its helped Fuhira a lot with his profession"

Before Yagita could say anything in response, he added, "but, enough about my past now. Let's talk about these missing pieces. Have the police made any progress since we last spoke?"

"None at all, we're still in the dark"

As they pulled up to the gated complex, he said,

"well let's hope something comes from this trip then"

The gates opened and Yagita drove into the rather massive compound. There were armed security guards all around, leading to the mansion. Which was about 200m from the gate.

Yagita parked and they headed towards the entrance.

"This is nice" Yagita said, "I can't believe you grew up here"

He laughed, "all that glitters is not gold, detective Yagita. This was no place for a child to grow up."

After that, they walked in silence till they got to the entrance. A few seconds after, the butler Kinari Okichi opened the door.

"Ah, master Aihara. What a pleasant surprise. What brings you here?"

With a welcoming smile, he said "Kinari, it's good to see you. I'm here to see the old man, how've you been?"

"I've been good, thank you. I trust you've been keeping safe?"

Aihara laughed, "you know me"

Shaking his head slowly, Kinari said, "I'm afraid I do." After a few seconds, he asked, with a serious tone, "Any word from master Fuhira?"

"Yeah, don't worry Kinari. He's doing okay. Infact, this is his partner, Yagita."

She waved, saying "hello. Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too, Ms Yagita"

"so, is the old man in? " Aihara asked

"I'll let him know you're here. Give me a few minutes. In the mean time, you can show Ms Yagita around"

"Good idea. Yagita let's-"

"The eldest returns." The current head of the Utari family, Akira Utari said, as he gracefully walked down the stairs, commanding authority as he did so, even in his old age.

"Father." Aihara responded, instinctively standing up straight

"So what brings you here?"

"Do I need a reason to see my father? "Aihara said, jokingly

Akira laughed, "be serious, child"

"I need your help. A group is assembling the staff you told me about a while ago. We wanted to know if you knew anything of their locations"

Akira walked down the stairs, to his rocking chair by the fireplace.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your colleague?" He asked

Aihara sighed, silently. "Father, this is Yagita Ryoshi. One of the best detectives this city has to offer. I'm helping her with this case"

Yagita said nothing after the introduction. The room remained silent for a few more seconds before Akira spoke again.

"How many pieces are left?"

Yagita, wanting to earn some respect from Akira finally spoke up, in a loud and confident tone. "There have been a string of robberies all over the city, but we believe there are 2 or 3 pieces left"

"Which is it detective? 2 or 3?"

"we aren't sure. A robbery might have gone under our noses so we can't exactly specify how many they have. Aihara tells me there are 5 pieces, we know the locations where 2 of them were taken, we are unsure about the other 3. One was taken from the national museum and the other from an antique store."

After a few more seconds, Akira responded. "Hmm," He said, "perhaps this might be of use to you guys" He reached into his robe, pulled out a scroll and handed it to Yagita.

Upon inspection, she noticed a map with writing on the sides in a language she couldn't understand.

"Aihara, do you understand this writing?" She asked, handing the scroll to him

He looked at it for a few seconds with a blank expression that suggested he didn't know what he was looking at. "I don't think so. I'm not sure I recognise this map too"

"neither do I. I can take it to the police station and try to decrypt the writing and cross reference the map with other images on our system and see what fits"

"good idea, send me a copy too. I'll get right on it"

He turned to his father, and slightly bowed his head "Thank you Father, it was nice seeing you again. We'll be on our way now.

"Yeah, thank you very much for your help Mr Utari" Yagita added, as she and Aihara walked to the exit.

"One more thing detective. Aihara, you too" Akira said calmly, "you must do everything in your power to prevent that staff from being assembled. I don't know the exact details but I know it's not good"

They both nodded and as Yagita walked out of the door, Aihara turned around and looked at his dad.

"Fuhira is doing okay" He didn't wait for a response before shouting, "Kinari, I'll see you soon" and then exiting the mansion.

There was more life in Yagita's steps now as she headed to her car with a potentially new lead.

"You seem excited" Aihara said, as he tried to keep up with her.

"Of course I am. This could be good news. Coming to your dad was such a good idea."

"I guess so. Now let's put an end to this mysterious staff nonsense"

Yagita nodded in agreement.

*

"as most of you here know, we have gained enough Intel on the police station to make a move." 1 said, as he stood in front of a few others with maps and instructions. "We've been collecting information and keeping an eye on the officers for more than a week now. I don't need to tell you that we need to be careful with this mission. This is Imahaya we are talking about. He has the best precinct in the city as we already know"

"who are you thinking of using for this plan" 2 asked, crossing her arms as usual

"you, 3, 4, 7 and 8 just incase things do not go according to plan"

"interesting" 2 responded

"details of the plan and what everyone needs to do are in the mission dossier. The rest of you who aren't on the mission are to be on standby. They may need backup at any point. Also, regarding the Academy, there is no concrete plan at the moment but I'll let you all know when I discuss this with 0 and we come up with something. Any questions?"

"Do we retreat if there's a drastic change in the plan or something unprecedented happens? " 3 asked.

"Most of the questions will be answered after you read the dossier, but to answer your question. This mission has a 30 minute deadline. If we do not have the staff fragment in 30 minutes, we retreat and regroup. However, if all goes to plan, it wouldn't take more than 15 minutes ." After a few more seconds, he asked, "any other questions?"

They shook their heads and the 4 who were chosen, prepared for their arduous mission