𝐒𝐏𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐎𝐔𝐒 - ★彡[ᴀʟʜᴀɪᴛʜᴀᴍ]彡★

𝟑𝟐 - 𝐉𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐒(?)

 "A staged break-in?!" My eyes widened at Shikanoin Heizou's words and I couldn't help but raise my voice.

Beside you, Alhaitham leaned back in his office chair as if he was deep in thought. "Interesting."

He doesn't seem fazed at all. I forced myself to regain my composure and face the detective once more. "Sorry, please tell me more."

"Well," Heizou twirled a pen in his hand as he spoke, his forest-green eyes narrowing, "after the results from the blood tests came back, it was found that the blood contains more than just hemoglobin, meaning that it likely doesn't belong to a human. On top of that, we noticed something peculiar in the CIV footage." He clicked a few keys on his laptop and pulled up the same footage Alhaitham had showed you earlier. "As you can see, the perpetrator is carrying a trash bag that was assumed to contain the body of your father. However, the size of the item contained in that bag is too small to be your father's body." 

Ah, I see. I had noticed in the original footage that the bag had seemed a bit too small, but I hadn't wanted to make any assumptions due to the fact that I wasn't sure if the camera footage was warped in some manner. My father wasn't all that tall (clocking in at 5'9) but he was somewhat overweight.

"We ran some tests to make sure that the footage taken from this camera was accurate to our scalings, and it turned out that we were right," Yeong-su added. "Furthermore, it seems as if your father had been taken before the staged abduction had occurred."

"Then that means..." Alhaitham furrowed his eyebrows. 

"I see you've also noticed, haven't you?" Heizou's lips curled into a smirk. "There's someone who perfectly aligns with all criteria assumed of this mystery abductor. Someone who could get in contact with (Y/n)'s father beforehand, someone who has a motive, and someone whose identity was revealed in the CIV footage for all to see."

Ah, so it's really him.

"Kamisato Ayato...are you saying that he's the one who did this?" I let out a shaky breath. In my mind I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear the detective reaffirm it, just to bring myself back into reality once more.

"I know this must be hard to hear," Heizou gave me a sympathetic smile, "losing someone precious to you in such a cruel way is a pain that most people can't fathom happening in their own lives. My parents were also cruelly taken away from me—although I was only thirteen when it happened." His eyes were overcast with remorse. "To have your trust broken and lose someone precious...I know how it feels. I promise that we will do everything in our power to find and bring justice to your father."

In his eyes I could see a vast expanse of emotions unwind themselves as he spoke. Such an expression couldn't be made simply through acting, which meant that Heizou understood how I felt right now. Just that thought was reassuring enough to make me push aside my negative thoughts and focus on the present moment. After all, Heizou was currently leading a successful life in a field that he was passionate about which was all I truly desired in life. Of course other hobbies and parts of life would be a nice bonus, but my career was incredibly important to me. 

"Thank you," I bowed my head to him, "and I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

Alhaitham abruptly interrupted our brief exchange and brought us back to the main topic. "So I assume that you've also noticed the wristwatch then, Shikanoin."

Yeong-su responded in Heizou's place. "Of course. Although we found it strange that the perpetrator would still wear their watch in the CIV footage, it solidifies the assumption that this crime either was directly committed by Kamisato Ayato or his personnel."

Alhaitham nodded in compliance but I noticed that his demeanor was a little off. Is there something he knows that we don't?

"Of course this amount of evidence isn't quite enough to detain him," Yeong-su continued, "but it's enough to take him in for an interrogation. Heizou and I will be busy with that for the rest of the day."

"Man, Mr. Kamisato's gonna be a hard nut to crack," Heizou groaned, "he's a master at business and persuasion and I doubt that he'll fall for any trap we would lay out to get him to spill the beans."

"Indeed."

After a few polite good-byes were said, Alhaitham and I made to leave as we didn't want to get in the way of their pre-interrogation preparations.

"Ah. One last thing," Heizou called out from his desk, "(Y/n),I'm going to call you later at night. There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

I was a bit frazzled by his sudden offer but didn't have the means to refuse. "Um, alright."

Alhaitham's face morphed into a troubled scowl. "Is it something that cannot be discussed here?"

"Most certainly."

"Very well. Come on then, (Y/n)," Alhaitham roughly grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of the office like I was his lackey or something. 

"I can walk out on my own two feet, you know."

He ignored me and instead glowered down at me, his tall figure towering over me with undisguised irritation. "What business do you have with Shikanoin Heizou that has to be discussed privately? I didn't realize that you two were so close that you were giving each other phone calls every night."

"I have absolutely no idea why he wants to call me," I shrugged, confused by his massive over-reaction. "But we're not as close as you're making it seem—it's not like we're having deep philosophical conversations at one in the morning. Why are you so angry about it?"

In truth we haven't really talked on the phone much at all.

Alhaitham chewed the inside of his cheek in frustration. "It's...unprofessional."

I glanced up at him and saw that the tips of his ears were tinted a pale pink. "Oh, so that's what it is." Although I didn't understand why he was embarrassed, it certainly meant that the excuse he had just spouted out was complete baloney. Is he really the jealous type? I hadn't imagined that he would be that way in the slightest. Perhaps it was because I was so accustomed to seeing him advertised as the perfect husband that I forgot that in actuality this man was sort of an emotional mess.

I guess I'm one of the only people who gets to see this side of him. At the thought, I felt my heart beating a little faster—

NO. STOP. What are you even doing, (Y/n)? Letting him win you over this easily would be pathetic. After all he did, you need to make him work a little to earn back your trust. Stop 'ba-dump'ing, stupid heart!

"It's for work. You take phone calls all the time for that sort of thing, don't you?" I tried to remain as impartial as possible and not get swept away by the fact that a handsome, rich, famous man was jealous because of me right now.

He ran a gloved hand through his hair and muttered a small 'I suppose' before gently taking your hand in his and walking towards the exit.

Ba-dump.

Nooooo! Stop. Why is he suddenly acting so bashful? And the sudden public display of affection?!?! How am I supposed to react to this in a way that wouldn't be weird?
And then, the sun blew up.

Well, not actually—but with the way Alhaitham was behaving, it might as well have. 

hi guys! sorry for taking over a week to upload this--i just got stuck in a dark hole of procrastination T^T thank you for all the support as always! i know the chapters right now is a whole lot of setting things up but things will get juicy soon, dw ;) 

ily guys mwah <3, wasabi