--Saturday, July 4, 2172
As Kai expressed his thoughts, something unexpected happened. Out of nowhere, one of the 'voices' he could sense in the building vanished abruptly, and a slight dizziness struck him. But the dizziness disappeared just as quickly, at which point Kai felt one of his swords in his right hand.
[Sage! Check the entire place!]
With a solemn expression, Kai hid the [Will Keeper] in the sleeve of his suit, extended his observation haki to its fullest, activated his black-and-white vision, and gave the order to his trusted assistant. At the same time, Kai checked the 'silhouette' of all present, but finding nothing unusual, he stepped away from the surprised Keiko and hurried toward the spot where the voice had disappeared. The beautiful fairy flying by his side responded in an incredibly serious tone.
[I don't find anything strange in the security footage, Master! No one seems to have disappeared!]
Sage's response caused Kai's expression to darken significantly as he quickened his pace, soon arriving at a frosted glass door that blocked the view inside. Without a second thought, Kai flung the door open, finding at least a dozen beautiful women in various stages of undress in what appeared to be a dressing room.
Paying no attention to the sensual bodies of the women, Kai extended his [En] to its maximum and focused his observation haki on the area while scanning the shocked faces of the women. At that moment, as if snapping out of the surprise of Kai's sudden entrance, a melodic scream echoed through the dressing room, followed by a visibly angry voice shouting.
"This is our dressing room!!!"
"Did someone disappear suddenly or something like that?"
Kai asked his own question, uncaring of the women's feelings, while using his black-and-white vision to study each of them. But his expression grew darker with every passing second. No matter what method he used, he couldn't find anything unusual—no traces of someone hiding, searching for someone, or using a quirk. Everything seemed perfectly normal.
"Pervert!"
At that instant, Kai heard a melodic, panicked voice, followed by the sound of a slap. Due to his state of concentration, it took him a few seconds to realize he had been struck across the face. Turning to his right, he saw a beautiful young woman, no older than 18, staring at him in panic with tears in her eyes while clutching her visibly pained right hand.
…
Seeing the sword and then watching Kai almost sprint off to somewhere, Keiko panicked and quickly followed him at full speed, her phone gripped tightly in her hand. Meanwhile, Yumiko turned on her heel and ran after Keiko, leaving the others behind without a second glance.
"What happened?! Why did Kai run off like that?!"
"I don't know; the Will Keeper appeared in his hand, and he ran off before saying anything to me." Keiko replied hurriedly, causing Yumiko's eyes to widen dramatically. But almost instantly, the beautiful blue-haired mother's eyes sharpened, and she quickened her pace to catch up with Kai.
Turning a corner, Keiko and Yumiko spotted Kai opening the door to the models' dressing room, standing there with a dark expression as he observed. The pair of women rushed toward him, but just as they were about to reach him, they witnessed firsthand a delicate, pale hand slap Kai with force.
Seeing the scene, Keiko's eyes widened in disbelief, which soon turned into near-murderous rage. Just as she was about to charge forward to teach that woman a lesson, something shocked her. Yumiko suddenly appeared beside Kai and pushed her way into the dressing room. At that moment, the sharp sound of another slap echoed through the space.
"Pack your things and get out! Your modeling career ends today!!"
As Yumiko's furious voice echoed throughout the place, Keiko entered the dressing room, allowing her to see what was happening. On the floor was a beautiful young girl with her hand on her reddened cheek, while the half-naked models watched the scene with disbelief written on their faces.
"Yumiko-sama! Please! Don't do this to me! I need this job!! I'm begging you!!" The young girl quickly pleaded with red, desperate eyes. Keiko fixed her cold gaze on her and announced icily.
"Didn't you hear, girl? Get out. Your severance and everything else will be handled later."
"No… Please…"
Keiko's words and the cold expressions of the two women left the girl in shock, which soon turned into inconsolable sobbing. Meanwhile, the other models watched the scene with equal parts pain, fear, and helplessness. At that moment, Kai's calm yet somewhat dark voice resonated in the room.
"Wait, there's no need to fire her. It was my fault."
"She hit you."
Keiko and Yumiko turned to look at Kai with serious expressions. Yumiko then commented with a voice full of indignation. Kai shook his head and replied in a calmer tone while looking at the girl's red and slightly swollen hand.
"I didn't even feel it. She's the one who ended up hurt."
With Kai's words, Keiko and Yumiko followed his gaze, seeing the young woman's injured hand. At that moment, Kai continued in a steady voice.
"You're not fired. Take the rest of the day off, go to a doctor to get checked, and come back tomorrow. I'll cover all the expenses. I just have one question for all of you—Is anyone missing who was here just a moment ago?"
The models exchanged nervous glances, and after a few seconds, one of them raised her hand and spoke in a visibly frightened voice.
"W-we're all here…"
"Well, that's all I needed to know. My apologies for the inconvenience."
Kai spoke and gave a slight bow of his head before turning to leave the dressing room. At that moment, Yumiko, her face flushed with anger and indignation, stomped her foot and called out furiously.
"Kai!"
"That's my decision. Is there a problem?"
Kai looked over his shoulder at Yumiko and asked in a measured tone, causing her to bite her lip in helplessness. Meanwhile, Keiko stared at Kai seriously, realizing he was genuinely worried about something. She quickly glanced at the shocked young woman on the floor and spoke coldly.
"You heard him. Someone will come by later to take you to the hospital for a checkup." Keiko turned to the apprehensive models and added icily. "But let this be very clear to all of you—this is the first and last time something like this happens. Understood?"
""Understood.""
The models nodded their heads in panic and responded in unison, at which moment Yumiko turned to look at Keiko with an expression full of frustration. Keiko shook her head silently, then followed Kai, who nodded and continued on his way.
Yumiko stood watching their backs with a deep expression until, after a few seconds, she turned to glare at the girl on the floor. Then, scanning the models, she spoke in a cold and unusually authoritative voice.
"Listen to me very carefully. I may have wanted to maintain a calm and safe environment here amidst the madness and perversion of this industry, treated you with respect and care, and made you feel like this is your home. But at the end of the day, you are just employees. Under no circumstances, NONE, should any of you even think about laying a finger on my Kai.
"Kai is a shareholder and heir to this company, and he is above all of you and anything else. So, if anyone, at any point, dares to raise a hand to him again, I won't let Kai intervene. I will personally hunt you down to the ends of the earth and make you wish you'd never set foot in this company!"
With a gaze so cold it drained the color from the faces of the women present, Yumiko turned to the young girl on the floor again and continued with a voice filled with near-mad indignation and rage.
"And you dared to call him a pervert? Do you think my Kai needs to sneak in here to look at you? STUPID, YOU'RE NOT WORTHY, NONE OF YOU ARE!! Be thankful Kai doesn't want to do anything to you, or I assure you, you'd never be able to find work in Japan again!! IDIOT!!"
After her final shout, Yumiko stormed out of the dressing room, practically fuming, leaving behind a group of trembling models in complete panic, some even falling to their knees with pale expressions. Outside, Reina, who had followed Yumiko, couldn't help but look at her boss with a hint of disbelief. In the over ten years she'd worked for her, she had never seen Yumiko lose her composure like this—not even with the scandals Haruto occasionally caused.
"The meeting is canceled until further notice!!"
As she passed by Reina and the executives, Yumiko announced, full of fury, before striding toward the presidential office with long, enraged steps, leaving everyone with expressions ranging from shocked to solemn. But Kaito, unfamiliar with Yumiko, found it easier to accept everything and quickly responded in a serious, professional tone, knowing he wouldn't get a reply.
"Understood, we'll await further instructions."
…
…
…
After leaving the dressing room, Kai hurried to the presidential office, where he took a seat behind the main desk and began typing at an absurd speed on the computer there. Moments later, Keiko opened the office door and rushed toward Kai, asking with evident concern.
"What happened, Kai?!"
"I don't know what happened. Suddenly, a 'voice' disappeared from my perception, and the Will Keeper appeared, which means someone tried to control me in some way. But no matter how much I search, I can't find a single trace of that 'voice' that vanished, nor could I detect who tried to manipulate me." Kai replied in a dark voice, not stopping his typing on the computer. Keiko's eyes widened in surprise before she approached him, hugging him from behind as she asked softly.
"Are you okay? Did you get hurt in any way?"
"No, I'm perfectly fine. But things are getting complicated. Today, someone leaked information about us, and now someone tried to manipulate me while a 'voice' disappeared from my perception… Someone is hunting me, I know it, and they're not just anyone. Not even someone with teleportation abilities or speed greater than mine could have vanished the way they did… as if they never existed…"
Kai responded in a dark voice, visibly troubled, which made Keiko's heart tighten with worry. But knowing it was necessary to remain calm now, she lifted her gaze to focus on the screen Kai was watching. After briefly scanning the code the young man was typing into the console, Keiko asked with seriousness.
"Are you hacking into the company's networks?"
"Yes, Sage is checking the situation within a 5-kilometer radius of the other family members using their devices, nearby cameras, and satellites. Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out who managed to vanish from my perception. Since they disappeared in the models' dressing room, it's possible it was one of them or someone posing as one, so I want full access to the company's data to see if I can find anything."
Kai answered in a serious tone, but at that moment, his hands froze mid-air. He turned to look at Keiko and asked gravely.
"Did your Will Keeper not activate?"
"No, it didn't activate at any point." Keiko replied, shaking her head, which left Kai somewhat surprised. But the blue-eyed young man quickly added with seriousness.
"I'm going to try manipulating you."
"Go ahead."
Keiko nodded instantly and closed her eyes. At that moment, she felt Kai place his finger in the middle of her forehead. Just as she felt her body wanting to move involuntarily, Keiko sensed an extra weight in her right hand, prompting her to open her eyes.
"It activated correctly…"
As Kai commented thoughtfully, the office door opened again, and Yumiko entered with wide strides. After slamming the door shut, she approached Kai, spun his chair around, and knelt in front of him. Placing her hand on his cheek, she asked with eyes full of concern.
"Does it hurt?"
"No, it doesn't hurt at all. I'm more worried than anything else." Kai replied calmly, which led Yumiko to adopt a serious expression as she asked.
"What happened?"
After Kai explained what had occurred, Yumiko and Keiko fell into a reflective silence, unbothered by their positions—Keiko hugging Kai from behind and Yumiko kneeling in front of him with her ample chest resting on his knees. After a few seconds, Yumiko spoke seriously, recalling the attack they had suffered last time.
"Do you think it could really be Haruto behind this? This is the second time something like this has happened…"
***
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