The villa was quiet again. Emi had been fed and now napped in her crib with the slow, even breaths of a baby lost to dreams. Raika was lounging on the couch, flipping through channels without much interest. Raito, meanwhile, sat at his desk in the corner of the living room, a faint hum from his sleek black laptop the only sound that broke the silence.
He wasn't browsing idly.
Raito leaned forward, eyes scanning the screen as he typed out a search string—Councilman Makoto Hoshino: recent activity, controversies, political enemies.
"I'm not doing this for her," he muttered, as much to himself as to the presence lurking in the back of his thoughts. "Just don't want to get dragged into another incident."
Kurai, ever amused, chimed in. Oh, of course. It's not about the flustered detective with the cute blush. You're just doing routine background checks. On politicians. Like any normal 'insurance' guy would.
He ignored her tone, clicking through articles and brief press statements. Most of it was fluff—public works, minor speeches, charity appearances. Nothing worth sending four armed amateurs after him.
"If this guy pissed off anyone dangerous, it's not public knowledge," Raito muttered, leaning back in his chair.
Kurai's voice rolled in like silk. Maybe you're just not looking in the right places. Or maybe someone wanted to test the waters... see how fast law enforcement responded.
"For an ancient demon, you sure keep up with modern conspiracy theories," he replied coldly. "Either way it doesn't matter but if more of these guys are popping up, I'm not getting caught off guard again."
Just saying.
He moved to open a more secure network, his fingers hovering over the keyboard.
Then—bare feet padding softly against hardwood.
He quickly minimized the windows just as Raika leaned over his shoulder, peering at the screen.
"What're you doing?" she asked, curious, chin nearly resting on his shoulder.
Raito snapped the laptop shut in one smooth motion. "Nothing."
Raika narrowed her eyes. "Looked like something. Were you—"
"Just some work stuff," he cut in. His voice was flat, final.
Raika stared at him for a few seconds, lips pressing into a faint pout before she rolled her eyes and walked back toward the couch. "You're like, the most suspicious man I've ever met. Even more than those creeps from this morning."
Raito exhaled quietly. The screen still faintly glowed from the seam of the closed laptop.
He didn't like loose ends. And he especially didn't like being pulled into chaos he didn't start.
But this time… maybe he already was.
---
As Raito was halfway through reviewing another news article when something tugged at the back of his mind. A stray sentence Raika had muttered earlier.
"Wait a minute," he said aloud, turning his chair slightly. "You said something earlier… about some creeps?"
Raika, sitting cross-legged on the living room floor while Emi gnawed on a teething toy, looked up lazily. "Hmm? Oh yeah. When you went out shopping this morning, someone knocked on the door."
Raito narrowed his eyes. "And you're telling me now?"
"I was sleepy," she said, shrugging. "Anyway, I looked through the peephole and saw some goofy-looking teens. They didn't seem like delivery guys or anything, so I didn't open the door. Just went back to bed."
Raito stared at her for a long second, trying to process the layers of irresponsibility in that one explanation. "Why didn't you tell me during breakfast?"
She stretched, completely unbothered. "I forgot?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unbelievable."
Leaving his seat, Raito walked over to the hallway cabinet and retrieved the tablet connected to the villa's outdated but still functional security system. He rarely checked it—nothing ever happened out here. But today felt different.
He scrolled through the footage until he reached the timestamp from earlier that morning.
Sure enough, there they were—three teenage boys, slouching in front of his gate. Baggy clothes, bad dye jobs, and the kind of body language that screamed "I think I'm cool." One of them even had a toothpick in his mouth, which he kept dramatically shifting from one corner of his lips to the other.
Raito recognized them immediately.
"Delinquents," he muttered.
Kurai chuckled in the back of his mind. Oh, the horror. Teenagers who skip school and loiter. What will you do, Raito? Call their parents?
"More like make sure they're not stupid enough to come back." He said out aloud before he could stop himself.
Raika gave him weird look before leaning over the back of the couch, curious. "You know them?"
"They're local brats. Think it's edgy to play gang in broad daylight."
"You gonna do something about it?"
Raito sighed, setting the tablet down. "Not unless they make me."
Raika smirked. "You're like the grumpy old man of this neighborhood."
"I don't do neighborhood politics," he said dryly.
"Could've fooled me with that apron this morning."
He shot her a flat look. She grinned, then ducked back behind the couch as Emi started to babble nonsense syllables at her feet.
Raito leaned back against the wall, staring at the paused footage of the teens.
They probably weren't a real threat. But in the kind of world he lived in, even dumb kids could turn into problems—especially if they were being used by someone smarter.
Just in case, he'd keep an eye out.
---
The late afternoon sun filtered through the trees, casting long shadows over the skate park nestled between two rows of aging apartment buildings. The sound of wheels grinding rails and occasional bursts of laughter filled the air as Raito stepped onto the concrete, hands in his pockets, his expression as unreadable as ever.
He decided to take care of the delinquents now and spotted them near the far end—three teens loitering around a worn-out bench, their school uniforms half-unbuttoned and ties loose like they were badges of rebellion. Just as Raika had described.
Kurai's voice echoed lazily in his mind. Ooooh, the big bad insurance man's out to investigate some delinquent teens. What are they gonna do, kickflip their way into your villa?
Raito ignored her as he approached, switching on his signature fake smile—polite, effortless, and disarming.
"Yo," he said casually. "You kids hang around here a lot?"
The teens looked up, puzzled at first. One of them narrowed his eyes. "Yeah? Who's asking?"
Raito kept the smile going, letting his tone stay friendly. "Just someone curious. You were around a certain neighborhood earlier this morning, right? Near a big villa?"
The teens exchanged quick glances. Suspicion flickered in their eyes.
"Nah, man. Don't know what you're talkin' about."
"Really?" Raito tilted his head, feigning surprise. "Because I live there. And my cameras picked up three teens who look a lot like you."
A tense pause.
Then one of them coughed awkwardly and asked, "Hey… that girl—in your house, right? She live with you?"
Raito's eyes narrowed slightly, but his smile didn't falter. "She's my sister and she is just visiting for a while."
All three of them visibly relaxed at that.
One grinned. "Phew. That's good, man. For a sec, we thought she was your girlfriend. That would've been awkward."
Raito didn't respond, just raised an eyebrow slightly.
The tallest of the group then leaned forward with a smirk. "Look, since you're her brother and all… think you could help us out? She's super cute. We just wanted to, you know, get her number or something."
"Yeah," another chimed in, nodding confidently. "You seem like a chill dude. Help a couple of guys out?"
There was a long pause. Raito blinked, his expression unreadable… then tilted his head back and laughed once—dry and brief—as he scratched the back of his neck.
They're just dumb kids, he thought. I was worried for nothing.
Kurai snorted in amusement. All this because you thought they were secret assassins or some mercenary recon squad, silly Raito.
Better to be safe, Raito replied silently. Now I know.
But then the laugh stopped.
His hand dropped from his head, and his fake smile evaporated like mist. The shift in atmosphere was immediate. He looked at them again—not with the pleasant eyes of a friendly stranger, but with the cold, flat stare of someone who didn't appreciate being played.
The teens went stiff.
Raito took a single step closer, his voice low and sharp. "How annoying."
The lightness in the air quickly disappeared.
Raito stood before the group of teens, his presence casting an almost palpable weight in the air. His usual calm demeanor was replaced by an intimidating aura that made them step back instinctively. They hadn't expected this kind of reaction.
"Stay away from Raika," Raito's voice was low, carrying a chilling edge. "And stay away from my house."
The boys blinked, visibly unnerved, and after a brief moment of hesitation, they nodded quickly, faces pale from the sudden change in the atmosphere.
"Yes, sir," one of them muttered, and soon, the others echoed him, all addressing Raito with an unexpected, albeit respectful, "sir."
Raito let out a sigh of exasperation as he turned on his heel, already feeling like he'd wasted enough time.
As he started walking back, his mind started to drift back to the real issues at hand. He wasn't about to spend another second worrying about this group of teens.