CHAPTER 1

  Nanning Morning @nanningmorningpost ? 5h

  Suspects wanted for the home invasion and murder of @ThreeDragons CEO and attorney husband. Read the details of the case here:

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  replying to @nanningmorningpost

  Dr. Raymond Tan @drtanray ? 1h

  This is the eighth murder of a multi-millionaire CEO in the past year! These people weren’t just wealthy CEOs, but people who supported the powerless, mutants, poor, etc. They were all personally involved in initiatives that bettered the lives of the vulnerable. This smells like a conspiracy—(1/8)

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  Millionaire Murder Mystery: The Suspicious Deaths of CEOs on Global Scale

  by Esther Yen for Southern China Times

  In the Qingxiu District of Nanning, during the early hours of June 6th, police found the bodies of multi-millionaire couple Tomi Tokudaiji and Edward Yeung in the aftermath of a presumed home invasion turned double homicide. The gruesome murders had swept the local and national media in a frenzy, but one question has arisen in the aftermath: are these two murders an isolated incident? There are many who would say no. Tomi Tokudaiji (pictured below), CEO of Three Dragons International, would be the eighth Chief Executive Officer murdered in their own home within the past year.

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  There was one thing about Yumi Tokudaiji anyone ever needed to know; if there was a way for things to go wrong in her life, then the gods would personally ensure it would happen.

  Well, the gods and the Tokudaiji Clan Elders.

  It was a rather absurd concept to contend with: the gods and several adults over the age of fifty holding a grudge against a child for existing. The idea wasn’t as funny when you were the ten-year-old clutching onto her beloved black cat plush and the worn straps of a canvas backpack in the middle of a forest you never stepped foot in until that moment.

  But that wasn’t the beginning of Yumi’s story.

  No, the story began over one year ago at the bustling Kansai International Airport.

  At nine years old, Yumi wasn’t unfamiliar with the concept of international travel.

  Her mother’s career led their family from country to country depending on the season and the popularity of Guardians in the general area. There was a time when their family crossed the borders of eight countries in less than a week because her mother had several meetings across Europe just to close partnerships and business deals worth millions of dollars.

  This wasn’t even her first time travelling to her mother’s home country of Japan. They always made sure she visited her favourite uncle a minimum of six times a year at his insistence.

  But this was different from every other time she set foot in Japan.

  She had no one at her shoulder to guide her, only an arrival agent as supervision until her new guardian picked her up. Her maternal grandfather had taken on the responsibility of raising her for some reason—the same man who nearly disowned her mother a decade ago and disliked Yumi on principle. No one had quite told her that her grandfather didn’t like her, but she could tell from the way her parents never allowed her to meet him. They did the same thing with her father’s family after their initial meeting, where they demanded a paternity test, as if they didn’t know her father chose to adopt her after her birth, regardless of who fathered her.

  Even in the aftermath of his death, they chose to cast her aside and pretend she had no relation to them, despite her father’s will and last wishes.

  People didn’t like Yumi; that was the expectation.

  She clutched onto the cat plush her father had gifted her for her birthday and buried her face into the black fur.

  He called her his little soot sprite—he used to.

  “I think someone is here for you,” the arrival agent said, and she rested a comforting hand on Yumi's shoulder.

  She lifted her head and spotted a group of imposing figures strolling across the terminal building’s concrete floors towards her. They were all tall and broad men donning rigid all-black suits. She squeezed her cat plush tighter and stayed glued to her spot by the arrival agent even as the wall of men closed in on them.

  “We’re here for Yumi Tokudaiji,” one of the men said.

  He was the tallest of the lot and wore a set of black shades despite the cloudy skies outside. Yumi couldn't get a good look at his face, but he looked like the main character in those spy movies she liked to watch with his square jawline and stiff expression.

  "I'll need the identification of one..." The arrival agent flipped through the forms in her hand, and she scanned through them before her teal-blue eyes shot up. She scanned the group of men, eyes darting frantically. "Ah... It says Sanetomi Tokudaiji."

  "That would be me," a smooth baritone voice cut in.

  A tall and severe man stepped into view from behind the line of security that surrounded him. He had a sturdy and lean build that seemed to loom over anyone he stood next to, even if he was shorter. Yumi shrunk behind her plush as he scrutinised her with his hard honey gold eyes and pursed lips. She could catch glimpses of her mother and uncle's faces in his sharp, but handsome features; the high cut of his cheekbones, the sweeping upturn of his catlike eyes, and the full bow-shaped lips were some things Tokudaijis seemed to share.

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  Another man, one much more familiar to Yumi, followed her grandfather's footsteps to stand before her. He wasn't much shorter than the men he came with, but there was an openness and gentleness in his unburdened face they didn't have.

  "Hello, Yumi-hime," he said gingerly as he knelt to look her in the eye. Yumi's eyes traced the wisps of grey peppering the macassar-brown waves flopping into his rounded, caramel-brown eyes. It looked darker in person. "Do you remember me? My name is Shohei Furutani. It's been quite some time since we've last seen each other face-to-face. I've been your mother's butler since she was your age."

  "Hello," she greeted politely with a bow before she returned to hiding behind her cat plush. "You taught me multiplication and division."

  A slow smile lifted his lips, and his already kind gaze softened. "Yes, that was a few summers ago."

  Someone cleared their throat.

  Yumi's eyes darted up to find her maternal grandfather's indifferent gaze trained on her. It was as if he intended to dissect her with his eyes alone—searching for something she didn't have on display.

  "It's time we left," he said. "There will be too much traffic if we delay."

  Butler Furutani stood up and brushed himself off. "Yes, Tokudaiji-sama."

  Yumi turned to the arrival agent, who stepped off to the side and bowed. "Thank you for your help."

  "Oh, you're very welcome," the arrival agent said.

  She was rather young and pretty, especially with the purple scales running up her high cheekbones and curling around her eyes. It was likely that she was a mutant, although Yumi wasn't quite sure what kind, and her parents raised her better than to ask invasive questions to strangers. That never stifled her curiosity, however.

  "Bye bye," she said, and she reached out to grab the pink suitcase behind her.

  "I will take care of that." Her grandfather's tallest guard swooped in and picked up her luggage by the handle with ease. He looked down at her through his sunglasses as his black curls shadowed his face. "Hello, Yumi-sama."

  "Hello," she said, craning her head up to look at him properly.

  "I'm your assigned guard, Noriyuki Takenaka," he said and held out his hand. "Please take care of me."

  Yumi paused mid-attempt to bow and stared at his outstretched hand. Her eyes trailed up Noriyuki's arm to find his expression calm and blank. She hesitantly placed her palm against his and shook his hand. "Thank you. Please take care of me, too."

  "I will do my best," Noriyuki said solemnly.

  "Terashima, Yokoyama, take up the rear guard," her grandfather ordered this security team. "Regular formation for the rest of you. If you see a single camera, follow the procedure."

  "Yes, sir," the bevy of guards, except for Takenaka, all said in unison.

  "Would you like to accompany me, Yumi-hime?" Butler Furutani said.

  Yumi glanced at the men encircling her and her grandfather in a structure she couldn't quite pinpoint; the closest she could guess was a hexagon, but that didn’t seem correct. She looked at Butler Furutani's patient expression before she nodded and grasped his hand; at least she'd know what to do if she attached herself to him.

  Her grandfather watched her the entire time.

  "Let's depart," her grandfather commanded.

  The strict precautions given to the guards were not required in the end.

  They managed to enter the armoured black three-row SUV parked out front without any fanfare or recognition, as it was still rather early. Butler Furutani had helped Yumi into the back of the vehicle and tucked a blanket around her as her grandfather settled himself in the leather seats across from them. The guard carrying her luggage, Noriyuki, chose to sit up front with the driver while another guard she didn't know sat down beside her grandfather. The other security escorts took an armoured sedan to guide them from the front, like they did in the television shows and movies with important or rich people.

  Her father would have criticised the rather predictable strategy, which had probably led to several deaths throughout the years.

  "Where's Takahiro-ji-chan?" Yumi whispered to Butler Furutani when the chauffeur began to drive.

  He looked down at her with an indulgent gaze. "Takahiro-sama is busy with a case."

  Yumi sat up and hugged her plush tighter. "Which one?"

  "He's working on the prosecution of European officials for their discrimination against those with mutant power presentations," he said.

  "Furutani-san, does she understand all of that?" The unnamed guard interjected.

  "Of course she does," Butler Furutani said, almost offended by the line of questioning. "She is Takahiro-sama's biggest fan, and Tomi-sama helped her follow his cases."

  Her grandfather hadn't tore his eyes away from her the entire time. She didn't know what he could clean from staring at her, but she imagined he had her trapped like an insect under a microscope while he prodded her with a needle. Yumi already didn't like eye contact, and now she had no choice but to shift her eyes to focus solely on the black fur of her cat plush or glossy wood details of the SUV's interior.

  "Is that so?" he finally asked, his deep voice filling the silence of the SUV. "Do you have a favourite case he's worked on?"

  "Tokudaiji-sama—"

  "I am speaking to my granddaughter, Shohei-san," her grandfather chided.

  Butler Furutani went silent, but there was an expression twisting his face. It was something Yumi didn't quite recognise, although she was sure that it wasn't good. He caught her looking at him and sent her what she supposed was a reassuring smile.

  "Japan vs. Turkey," Yumi offered shyly when she saw her grandfather would not relent.

  "The Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide," he clarified for their audience. "Now, why would you choose that one?"

  She shrugged and tucked her face back into the blanket. It smelt like a more concentrated version of the scent perfuming the vehicle: a sweet sandalwood and bergamot. A soothing distraction in the face of her grandfather's sudden onslaught of enquiries.

  "No answer?" he prodded.

  "It was good to do," she said, avoiding his intrusive gaze.

  He raised a brow at her assertion. "Was it, now?"

  She nodded.

  "Why do you believe it was good?" he asked.

  "Because Mama said we have to help people who can't help themselves."

  At the mention of her mother, something flickered across her grandfather's face. A brief twist of his lips and furrow of his brow emphasised the minute wrinkles on his face. Despite his age, he still boasted a full head of luscious onyx-black hair like her mother had, and now those same locks cast strange shadows over his face due to the dim sunrise filtering through the tinted car windows.

  "An interesting answer," he finally said.

  Yumi ducked back under the blanket and held her breath.

  She really hoped that's all he wanted to ask of her.

  But it seemed that once the inquisition set upon her was over, it turned onto another.

  Her grandfather's flinty eyes turned onto Butler Furutani. "Shohei-san, have you compiled a list of the schools nearby the family compound?"

  "Yes, I have," Butler Furutani said. "A handful are prestigious enough, but they will not challenge her. Tomi-sama enrolled her in Hallow International Academy, where she maintained her spot at the top of her class academically with ease."

  "I heard that she's powerless," her grandfather said flatly.

  The small, proud smile on Butler Furutani's face grew brittle as his eyes darted to look at Yumi. She shrunk in her seat at the near-forbidden word. It seemed to steal the breath out of the other occupants of the vehicle, and a thick tension settled over them all at the revelation.

  It didn't deter her grandfather, however.

  "Are you powerless?"

  Yumi stared at the ground, not daring to even lift her eyes to look at their faces.

  She nodded slowly.

  An insidious silence crept between the spaces of the car. Butler Furutani seemed at a loss for words, while the guards took to looking out the window and pretending as if the conversation had not taken place at all.

  Her grandfather cleared his throat, and he looked at Butler Furutani. "I want her to remain close by," he said. "She will stay in Tomi's residence at the family compound."

  "Of course, Tokudaiji-sama." Butler Furutani bowed his head.

  Yumi burrowed deeper under her blanket and pretended to sleep even as her eyes watered. She clutched her black cat plush tighter to her body and wished that Mama, Baba, or Dad were alive.

  They would've never let any of this happen to her.