The morning was cold, and the rain had tapered off into a fine mist that clung to the streets, a fading reminder of the storm.

Hana and I sat in the car outside a small shop, the weight of the letters we’d discovered the previous day sitting heavily between us.

The truth about "R.K." and "The Benefactor" haunted us, but it was only the beginning.

We needed to regroup, to figure out our next steps.

“Call Sasaki”

Hana said after a moment, breaking the silence.

Her voice was calm, but the tension was clear.

"We have to debrief.”

I nodded in agreement and pulled out my phone to call him. After a few rings, Sasaki answered, his voice gruff but familiar.

“Keisuke, Hana. What’s going on?”

“We found something”

I said, glancing at Hana.

I mentioned to him everything we found, the engraving in the cell, the house, the letters.

“We need to meet. The ramen shop near the station?”

“Give me ten minutes”

Sasaki replied, and the line went dead.

When we arrived at the small, unassuming ramen shop, Sasaki was already there, seated at a booth in the back.

He was nursing a cup of tea, his ever-present notebook sitting beside him.

His sharp eyes tracked us as we walked in, and he waved us over with a slight nod.

We slid into the booth across from him, and the waitress quickly brought out steaming bowls of ramen.

But none of us touched the food yet.

The weight of what we had to discuss seemed to kill any appetite we might have had.

“Let me see.”

Sasaki said, his voice low and direct, cutting through the silence.

Hana handed him the copies of the letters we’d found at the abandoned house in Kyoto, her expression serious.

Sasaki didn’t waste time with small talk.

He immediately opened the files and began reading, his eyes scanning the pages with that laser-focused intensity I’d come to admire over the time I spent with him.

“These letters”

Hana began,

“Mention someone named ‘R.K.’, who appears to have been an accomplice of Nagasuki. But more than that, they point to a figure called ‘The Benefactor’—someone higher up, someone pulling the strings.”

Sasaki’s brow furrowed as he continued to read.

After a moment, he set the papers down, his gaze hard.

“Nagasuki wasn’t acting alone. If these letters are real, he was just a piece of a much larger network.”

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“We think R.K. was someone with access, someone who could move freely without attracting attention"

I added.

“It seems like they were coordinating everything for The Benefactor.”

Sasaki’s eyes narrowed.

“You said these were found in an abandoned house? No signs of anyone else being there?”

“None”

Hana confirmed.

“It was as if whoever was there left in a hurry. We think they might’ve gotten word of Nagasuki’s death and vanished before we arrived.”

Sasaki sat back, his fingers tapping the table thoughtfully.

“The fact that Nagasuki was so paranoid before his death suggests he knew something was coming for him. But why scratch an address into the bed frame? He wanted someone to find it.”

“To lead us to these letters”

I said.

“It’s like he was trying to point us in a direction before he died.”

Before Sasaki could respond, the door to the ramen shop opened, and two familiar faces walked in.

Matsuoka and Detective Sato.

Matsuoka gave a friendly nod in our direction as they approached the booth.

“Looks like we missed the main event"

He said with a grin, though the tension in his voice betrayed his casual demeanor.

Sato, ever the professional, slid into the booth beside Hana, his expression unreadable but his eyes keenly focused on the conversation.

Matsuoka took a seat next to me, immediately scanning the table for clues about what had brought us all together.

“What’s going on?”

Sato asked, his tone cool but direct.

Hana quickly filled them in, summarizing what we’d uncovered about R.K., The Benefactor, and the letters that tied Nagasuki to something much larger than his own criminal activities.

As she spoke, Matsuoka’s grin faded, replaced by a thoughtful frown, and even Sato’s usual composed expression shifted to one of concern.

“So, we’re looking at a conspiracy”

Sato said once Hana finished.

“One that’s much bigger than Nagasuki’s death. And whoever this Benefactor is, they’re still out there.”

Matsuoka leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table.

“This Benefactor isn’t just some petty criminal. They’ve got resources, connections. If they were the ones pulling Nagasuki’s strings, then we’re up against something serious.”

Sasaki, who had been silent for a moment, finally spoke up.

“We need to find out who R.K. is first. They’re our best lead to getting to The Benefactor. I’ll start cross-referencing anyone who might have had regular access to Nagasuki, both before and after his arrest. R.K. isn’t just an alias—it’s someone real. Someone we can track down.”

Sato nodded, his expression thoughtful.

“Matsuoka and I will look into Nagasuki’s associates. Someone in his circle might know who R.K. is, or at least have heard whispers of this Benefactor.”

Hana leaned in, her voice calm but laced with determination.

“We can’t be reckless. If The Benefactor knows we’re getting close, they might try to cover their tracks, and that could mean more bodies. We need to stay ahead of them without tipping our hand.”

“I agree”

Sato said.

“This isn’t just a game of chasing down leads anymore. If we push too hard, too fast, we could force them to act in ways we can’t predict.”

Matsuoka chuckled lightly, though there was no humor in it.

“Feels like we’re walking into a snake pit. One wrong step, and we get bitten.”

Sasaki, ever the leader, sat back in his seat, his sharp eyes scanning the faces around the table.

“This is what we’re going to do. Hana, you and Keisuke continue working the leads on the letters. I want every scrap of information on R.K. and The Benefactor cross-referenced with anything we’ve got on organized crime. If they’ve been operating this long, we might have missed something in the past.”

He turned to Sato and Matsuoka.

“I ask you two to follow up on Nagasuki’s contacts. His business dealings, his prison visitors, anyone who might have known more than they were letting on. We need names, places, anything that ties back to R.K. or this Benefactor.”

Sasaki’s voice grew more intense.

“This isn’t just about solving a case anymore. If we’re right, then Nagasuki was only a cog in a much larger machine. We need to dismantle that machine piece by piece.”

The weight of his words settled over the table like a heavy fog, and I felt the seriousness of what we were facing sink in.

This was bigger than any of us had anticipated, and the implications were staggering.

Matsuoka leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms.

“So, we’re diving headfirst into a hornet’s nest. Sounds fun.”

Sato shot him a look, his expression unamused.

“It’s not fun, Haruto . This is dangerous. We don’t know how deep this goes.”

Sasaki nodded in agreement.

“He’s right. We’re not dealing with small-time criminals anymore. If we’re not careful, we could find ourselves in the crosshairs.”

I glanced at Hana, who was staring down at the table, her mind clearly racing with thoughts of what lay ahead.

We were all thinking the same thing—this wasn’t just about catching a killer anymore.

We were up against something far more insidious, something that operated in the shadows, unseen but always present.

Sasaki stood up, signaling the end of the impromptu meeting.

“We’ve got work to do. Stay in touch. If anyone finds anything, we meet again. No one acts alone. Understood?”

We all nodded, the gravity of the situation clear.

As we left the ramen shop, the mist had turned to light drizzle, the city still cloaked in the aftermath of the storm.

The road ahead was murky, fraught with dangers we couldn’t yet see.