by T L Brevis
His opponent seemed to be quite tall and had an athletic build, much like Kaito’s. He looked to be around his mid-thirties, and had bright auburn hair and green eyes. This was who would be Hiroshi’s final target before the hiatus.
“I see,” said Hakku, breaking the silence.
“Kaito really is testing us I guess. The U.S.A, huh?” Hakku added.
“He truly is. This is unlike anything we’ve faced thus far,” Hiroshi replied, eyes still glued to the man’s face, although he hadn’t even activated his Noromi yet.
“Yea, especially the language barrier,” Hakku said hopelessly.
“Oh, that will not be a part of our issues at the very least. I'm quite fluent in English actually,” Hiroshi replied.
“Of course you are. I don’t think I'll ever get used to just how much of a genius you are,” replied Hakku with a small chuckle.
Hiroshi could not even muster a small smile at this compliment. All he saw was red, then fittingly, his eyes turned that very shade.
“Oh, you’re going to learn his information then? Ok then I’ll have to do some work of my own! I’ll ask my private detectives to do some research on this ‘Lewis Howard’,” said Hakku with conviction and passion ingrained in his tone.
Hiroshi did not respond, not even with a nod. He would not break concentration even for a moment. This was it, the final mission before the hiatus. Hiroshi would ensure its perfection no matter the cost, whether it be hunger or sleep deprivation.
Hakku paid no mind to Hiroshi’s lack of acknowledgement and simply whipped out his laptop and began typing away immediately, his smile now faded and conviction rivalling Hiroshi’s own entering his face. The pair of child geniuses’ determination could be seen on their stone cold expressions. They both would not rest until this man, Lewis Howard, was dead for his crimes.
Chapter 22
New York City:
“Checkmate,” said Lewis Howard incredibly unenthusiastically.
“G-Good game yet again sir,” his opponent replied in an upright and overly formal tone.
“I'm done with chess,” Lewis Howard said after pausing for a few seconds.
“Sir, you have barely played for three months,” a man said from beside Lewis Howard, sounding almost overly friendly and accommodating, but a hint of annoyance could be heard as well.
“I’ve beaten Mr. Johnson here ten times today. He’s the best in the country, at least in recent competitions. There’s nothing more for me in this game,” replied Lewis Howard.
“You will only get more bored sir. This is how it has always been with you. You learn a game or sport and give up soon after,” the man replied, choosing his words very carefully.
“And what is it to you? I have mastered all of those things, so there was nothing more for me in them. I was fortunate that chess was something that kept me interested this long, but now it has turned out to be no different from the rest. Are you suggesting I hold myself back?” Lewis Howard asked coldly, narrowing his stare into the man’s eyes.
“O-Of course not Mr. Howard. I will most definitely find you more pieces of entertainment without fail,” the man replied.
“Good,” Lewis Howard responded.
“Now then, I think it is about time I head to my next meeting. How dull. Hopefully this next case will be interesting for me. My client apparently wants a murder case related to a rival mafia family solved next. Perhaps this will entertain me for a more extensive period this time,” Lewis Howard added.
Lewis Howard stood from his seat and stepped to the room’s exit. Right as he grabbed his coat from its hanger, he suddenly turned back to face his former chess opponent, the man’s eyes widened to their limits.
“Oh, and do dispose of him. He’s heard too much. Chemical 624 in his vodka should do. Dump him in the river tonight as per usual,” Lewis Howard said, all while staring back into the very man’s eyes, his face growing more horrified and pale by the second, then turning and stepping out of the door with a bored and lifeless expression on his face.
∞
“We will begin landing in fifteen minutes, ladies and gentlemen. Please return to your seats immediately.”
Hiroshi did not bother getting up from his seat more than once during the thirteen-hour-long flight. It was a tedious process, flying, but nonetheless undeniably necessary, much like one of Hiroshi’s abilities. Hiroshi viewed both in the same vein at that moment. He viewed them as being minuscule compared to the delight he would feel as that olive-eyed man squirmed at his feet, then in a few years, the same would be said for Owari. That thought did bring a smile to his face even at that dull moment.
“Oh, you’re finally smiling. Well, I guess we are getting off this plane at long last after all,” said Makoto from the seat beside Hiroshi, promptly snapping him back into reality.
“Uh huh,” replied Hiroshi.
“So, we’re gonna be thinking of this plan after touching down, right?” Hakku asked, quickly entering the conversation.
“Correct. As I said, I would like to get more of a feel for America before hastily making any assumptions that could end up hindering us,” replied Hiroshi.
“A risk-free strategy, and there really is no reason to delay our arrival here either, so I'm glad we’re flying here so early,” replied Hakku.
“So, how are you two gonna create this plan anyway?” Makoto asked.
“As I said, for now I’ll just observe this country a little bit more, especially the area around Howard’s residence, what about you?” responded Hiroshi.
“Well, I’ll be able to be closer to my newfound spies and assassins in New York, and I’ll take care of a lot of the murderers in this area,” said Makoto.
“I see. Alright, well it seems all of us have our work cut out for us,” replied Hakku.
∞
“The red-headed monster,” Hiroshi stared at the words displayed in the small chat box on his laptop screen with a smile.
Hiroshi was glad that yet another one of these deep web criminals had made their existence so well-known. Lewis Howard was known online as this “Red-headed monster” and apparently, on top of selling assassins, he would solve cases for money. Whether it be murder cases, discovering identities, or anything else his clients may have needed. He would also exclusively take on jobs from the deep web. Hiroshi deduced that he did not care for money, he could have easily made much more by creating a name for himself legally, but did not.
Hiroshi was getting closer and closer to discovering his true motivations, but could not put his finger on them. He had researched deaths in the area, and had discovered that the grandmaster of chess had been found dead near Lewis Howard’s hotel as well. It was not a coincidence. The grandmaster of chess dead, selling assassins off to the highest bidder, and only taking on cases from criminals.
There was only one answer to connect them all. Lewis Howard was not driven by money, or any other material items. He was solely committing all of these crimes for chaos. He purely, to his core, enjoyed chaos. Selling assassins to terrorists would cause chaos. Killing the grandmaster of chess would throw the chess world into at least temporary disarray, causing chaos. Solving cases for criminals undoubtedly led to the same end-point as well, chaos. His entire motivation was based on it.
Hiroshi began work on his plan, and he would ensure its quality would not drop from his previous work. Even though his pursuers apparently ceased their investigations, and were even in an entirely different continent, he had learned by then that he had to be cautious. He would not make the same mistakes again, no matter how much he wanted to carelessly stroll in and kill Lewis Howard without a second thought.
∞
“Are you sure about this plan? This is our final task before the hiatus, and I want you to be absolutely sure,” said Hakku.
“Yes. This plan will work.”
“But just the three of us? In one room? Will that really be alright?”
“Yes. W
e will all be wearing masks, plain white masks with only our eyes showing, as per his request. He thinks that will be his shield, but little does he know that it will be ours instead.”
“So we’re meeting with him tomorrow, huh? Crazy to think how we only landed a few weeks ago, and only began this case days before that. I feel useless in it though.”
“Don’t give much thought to that. You will be accompanying me there, that will be more than enough.”
“Well, I can tell that you really want to get this over with, so I’ll stop pitying myself. These missions all come down to you after all. Completing them is all that matters.”
Hiroshi smiled at Hakku’s kind, but nevertheless accurate words.
∞
The pair slowly stepped into the hotel room on the 7th floor. They wore their usual clothing, with one glaring difference. Plain white masks, with only their eyes shining through, the colors of which were a sharp contrast to the green-eyed man that they met at the door.
The three of them slowly found their seats in the living room, Hiroshi and Hakku on a long couch with its back to the direction of the front door, and Lewis Howard on an armchair with his left leg up on his right. Both pieces of seating furniture were of the utmost quality, even when compared with what they had found at previous hotels, or even Makoto’s home.
“So gentlemen, please give me the specifics of this case,” the man asked in clear and cohesive Japanese after a purposeful pause following the three of them taking their seats.
Many thoughts raced through Hiroshi’s mind following this, but he did not allow any of it to show on his eyes that shone through his protective mask. How had Lewis Howard known Japanese? Why was he speaking it? Most importantly, how did he know they could understand it?
“Oh, confused are we? Don’t have to hide it, I know, Mr. Makoto Waru, accompanied by a friend, and also contact lenses. Very cautious I see,” Lewis Howard quickly added.
Hiroshi was flabbergasted. He was of course mistaken on which of the trio he was, but for him to even know of Makoto at all? That was far too close for comfort. Hiroshi now knew that he had to kill this man, not just for his crimes but for his extraordinarily dangerous personality paired with the information he somehow had.
“‘How does he know?’ ‘How is this possible’ is that what you’re asking yourself right now, young Mr. Waru. Well, I happen to keep up to date with any person of importance that enters this city. I suppose you could call me it's overseer. Well, I will say that out of all that enter this city, you certainly are one of the most interesting. What with you creating and running that operation of yours at such a young age.”
Hiroshi’s eyes widened to their limit, ceasing to bother restraining themselves any longer. This man was more than dangerous. He would be lethal to the three of them, possibly even Kaito. To know of Makoto’s operation he had been running unbeknownst to even his own parents who had been funding it, he truly did know it all. He had to have an intel network so vast that Hiroshi would barely be able to grasp its size.
Hiroshi snapped back into his situation. He had no time to waste on thoughts such as those. This situation would not allow for even a moment to be misused. He had to come up with an appropriate response. Something to even the playing field. Hiroshi thought of something. It was bold, but bold enough to possibly be effective in this situation. Regardless, he had no choice. He had to make a decision. Would he do it or not?
Hiroshi answered himself within the same second as he moved his hands to the back of his head where the Velcro that was holding the mask in place was located. He slowly undid it, purposely audibly enough for the other two to hear the process, then with each hand took each side of the string and brought it to the front of his head to meet what they were connected to. He then dropped both of the strings simultaneously and caught his mask just before it fell. He waited for about three seconds to build up appropriate tension and slowly lowered the mask to his lap, then began to glare directly into Lewis Howard’s eyes with his own, now a deep scarlet.
Lewis Howard’s eyes widened to their limit, much how Hiroshi’s did moments prior, and he uttered a handful of words in a tone that matched his face.
“W-Who are you?” this time not bothering to speak in Japanese.
The man looked into Hiroshi’s eyes the entire time, frozen, but then snapped his vision away as Hiroshi had counted to “four” inside of his head.
Hiroshi visibly lost all composure he had built up and now his face matched Lewis Howard’s from a moment ago, while the man himself now looked down slightly, clearly visible to Hiroshi.
“I wonder… Why do you need eye contact with me…? For five seconds in particular?” he asked calmly.
Hiroshi was shaken now more than ever.
“Oh? Did I hit right on the money this time? Well, I’ll grant you your wish. I’ll tell you how I knew. You see, you did have me for a second. Just a second. You did shock me by not being Makoto Waru, even prompting me to ask your real identity on impulse, but then, I gradually saw it in your eyes. A look overcoming you more by the second. A look of relief. A look that grew close to its limit four seconds after that gradual increase had begun. A look that would reach its climax at five seconds. I ask again, what exactly can you do with five seconds of eye contact?”
Hiroshi remained silent.
“Oh, you don’t wish to spill the beans just yet. I suppose that is to be expected…”
“I was going to kill you,” Hiroshi said calmly.
He could feel Hakku’s gaze on him intensify, much like Makoto’s had done prior. He wanted to laugh at that similarity the two suddenly shared, but obviously could not due to the situation he found himself in. He had decided to fully risk everything when he had removed his mask, and he would continue that commitment. That would be the only foreseeable way to kill this man. His planning for the last few weeks was now useless, his painstaking research on this man’s behavior would not be of any use now, much like all of the other research he had done during that time. He hated how impulsive and quick-thinking he had to be in that situation.
He would trick him into eye contact one more time, and this time, not hesitate to kill him. It would be much less clean than his previous plan, but it was necessary. Completely necessary.
“I see. Well, I'm inclined to believe you. You see, you are special. Not only in terms of being a child meeting with me, not being Makoto Waru, or even because you brought up this ridiculous congressman for me to investigate. No, there is something more. Something significant. You have an otherworldly gift, don’t you? Not a weapon made by some top scientists, but a gift, am I correct?”
“Yes,” Hiroshi answered.
“I see. Well, tell me, why do you think I do what I do? What do you assume my motivations are?”
“You wish to cause chaos. As much of it as possible. I do not yet know your purpose behind it, but that is certainly it.”
“Wrong,” he answered bluntly.
Hiroshi’s eyes widened a slight bit, not as much as they had previously, but slightly. He would hear this man’s explanation. It was clear to him by now that for this individual, there was much more than met the eye. He was not entirely shocked by that premise. Kaito was testing him with the man who would be his greatest challenge yet, the target who would actually be a threat, and not just an empty husk that only concerned Hiroshi by how difficult they were to be killed, then for that death to be covered up lest his pursuers find it suspicious. He would see what this man would add on.
“My entertainment. That is all I do anything for. My own personal enjoyment. I have had rivals in games, politics, warfare, battle. All of it. Not one has been like you, however. Not in terms of age, or natural ability. You are the first who had me beaten from the very start.”
Hiroshi’s eyes widened further as he considered the man’s words.
“You actually have the ability to loom death over me at all times. How amazing is that. I have truly lost fo
r the first time in my life. Even coming face to face with you in the first place confirms that. I know you most likely did not mean that I would drop dead this instant when you said, ‘I was going to kill you’. That ability of yours most likely involves mind control of some sort, or something along those lines. You probably have something even stronger that could actually kill me on a moment’s notice,” Lewis Howard said, beginning to chuckle.
“I was beaten from the very start, but that is fine. I have lived a life of crime and treachery, yearning for the ultimate entertainment, the ultimate mesmerizing experience. It has finally come,” he continued in a low voice.