Chapter 66: Missing Drone

Ai was confused about their situation. How should she put it? This was a situation where she was driving the truck through the cornfield, chasing after a plane. Sure. In the first place, she never thought she'd be in this situation with her kids and the guy who is now her husband.

"Ack! I'm sorry for destroying these corns! I'm terribly sorry!"

"Just focus on driving. Faster."

"You don't have to tell me that! I just felt sorry—kyaa! What was that? I hope it was just a rock."

Ruby sighed, looking at the quarrel between the couple as she sat on Minoru's lap in the front seat, meanwhile Aqua sat in the back holding a baton-like device.

"Dad, how can I help?"

So far, she didn't feel like she was helping that much compared to others, besides sitting on his lap and looking at the laptop screen as her dad tried to hack the drone.

"Not yet, Ruby," Minoru said, as Ruby felt down. Maybe just sitting in silence was the best way for her to help.

"Minoru-kun?" After a moment, Ai drove the truck as it arrived near the cliff, and she could see the lake below.

"Yeah, don't stop. I almost got it."

She remembered that he told her to chase after the drone, right? "Forget it..." she didn't give a shit. She braked hard to the point Minoru felt the force, but when he looked at the front, he agreed with her decision.

She sighed as Minoru got out of the car, and Ruby said, "Did we lose it?" and then followed him down from the truck.

Minoru smiled and then said, "No, we didn't."

Looking up at the drone flying in circles above the lake. When it flew weirdly, the people in the village crowded as they pointed at the plane and wondered what was going on.

Ai, Ruby, and Aqua watched in awe as the drone was now completely under Minoru's control. Aqua then asked, "What now?"

She also thought that she hadn't helped anything as her parents and Aqua did a great job. Somehow, she felt lonely.

Minoru realized it too as he squatted near his daughter, "Ruby, come here," he said with a smile. Ruby approached him, wondering. "Now, the important part is to land the aircraft safely in the lake."

Ai and Aqua widened their eyes at this, then Ai decided that he couldn't force such a job on her four-year-old daughter, "Minoru-kun—" However, Minoru gestured for her to stop as he knew what to do.

"Dad…" Ruby felt a burden on her shoulders, "I think you should just ask Aqua about this." Minoru smiled at her as he then shook his head, "Don't worry. What you have to do is follow my lead, okay? Look…" Minoru then moved his finger on the trackpad of his laptop with a smirk as he looked up to the sky, "It's fun. And it's easy, Ruby. Don't worry, I will be your co-pilot."

Ruby looked at him as he offered his hand, and Ruby took it with a smile. Minoru then guided her small index finger to the trackpad.

"How is it?" Minoru smiled as he peeked at Ruby's reaction; Ruby smiled broadly as she felt a unique experience. He looked ahead again as he looked at the surroundings, preparing to land this drone in the lake.

He looked at the place. There is a big lake in the center with many old Japanese houses surrounding it. This place was certainly the center of the village. Why the lake, though? Firstly, the terrain. There's no clear surface for an emergency landing zone as it's surrounded by mountains.

If he had control of the cornfield, maybe he could do that, but he certainly wouldn't risk losing control of the drone later. With the reasoning that with just the simple equipment he had, maybe he'd lose control of the drone later, and let's not forget what caused this drone to lose control in the first place. Then, the right decision is to land it ASAP.

Minoru then grabbed the radio that Mister Takashi had given to him. He just assumed that he'd follow him, and sure enough, Mr. Takashi did. He made sure the area below was clear of people, as he was sure about it because Minoru wouldn't land it in the center but a bit closer to the land.

On the other side, Ai anxiously watched the drone, then Minoru and Ruby then back again until somehow, the drone landed in the water. "Nicely done. Okay, we did it." Minoru smirked as Ruby said, "This is awesome! Can we do it again?"

Aqua snorted heavily, "Of course not, idiot." Ruby then glared at him, "I'm not talking to you, grr!"

Minoru giggled, "Of course, we could do it with a smaller version and not the real one."

"Huh?" Ai narrowed her eyes. Maybe she should put this matter off for later. She then looked at the drone again and could recognize some parts of it. "Are we not in trouble?" She remembered that Minoru said something about the drone and whether its owner would be angry or not.

Minoru paused for a moment as he got up. He heard a motorcycle approaching and also saw a car as he glanced at it. They were just Mitsuha and her friends, along with Ichigo and Miyako.

"Yanagi-san, wh-where's the plane?!" Mitsuha said, worried.

He just nodded at her. "We managed to land it safely."

Mitsuha sighed with relief. She didn't doubt his capabilities, as she had witnessed him piloting a helicopter here to Itomori, but she hadn't realized he was capable of more.

"As someone who grew up here, please accept my gratitude," she said as she bowed, and the others followed suit.

"Please raise your heads. There's something I want to request too. Take my family to your house because, from now on, they'll be investigating the drone."

"They?"

Mitsuha asked. Suddenly, two F-16s appeared above them, circling above the village's lake as if they were looking for something. Minoru looked at them again and noticed Ai's worried face. He looked down at his daughter as he knelt.

"Dad will have a short trip to talk to the toy's owner, okay?"

When Ruby heard this, it was shocking. "Are you leaving us? What about our holiday?"

Minoru smiled as he patted her head. "I promise I'll come back as fast as I can so we can continue our holiday, yeah?"

Ruby paused to think about it. So far, her dad had never said something he couldn't do, so if he promised this, she could believe it. After all, Minoru had never lied to her.

Ruby nodded slowly. "Okay, Ruby understands. But you have to keep your promise."

"It's a promise," Minoru nodded with a smile. "Alright, please go now. Ichigo-san, sorry for the trouble."

"Nah, I'm fine. I hope you have insurance for this damn, must be quite some money. Okay, let's go. Miyako, take the kid."

Ichigo nodded as they walked to the rental car, leaving Minoru alone with Ai.

Ai sighed deeply. She didn't know what was happening to him, but somehow she felt he would be okay.

"You said you'll leave somewhere? Where are you going?" Ai said as she looked at him, worried. "Maybe we should call Rachel, right?"

"I can handle this alone. I think they'll bring me to the US base in Okinawa for investigation. Until then, wait for me."

"I can handle this alone huh…" Ai smiled weakly. She wondered where that confidence was coming from. It also showed her that she had no idea about him at all. "Alright, I'll be waiting," she said, kissing his cheek before leaving him alone. For now, all she could do was put her trust in him.

Seeing her enter the car and leave with the others, Minoru then took out his phone.

"Yeah, it's me, James Moriarty."

Long story short after that call, he approached the lake as the drone sunk, leaving its tail on the lake's surface. As he suspected before, the owner, who was the USAF, came to him, and they asked him to go along to their base in Okinawa. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he went with them to Okinawa.

However, one thing was for sure. He remembered his promise to Ruby. He would come back, and no one could stop him from his vacation with his family.

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A/N:

What are your thoughts on the cover? I quite like it. It portrays Eileen, the ghost, and the dark from the kid's room. I am considering changing it though.

Stones?