This just wasn't his day. A few days ago he had to help an amoral attorney who regularly accepted bribes from drug lords and Yakuza save his daughter. He could've refused, but it would've only hurt the little girl and the man would probably just end up doing worse things. He didn't want a corrupt attorney to be a corrupt attorney with nothing left to lose. The damage would outweigh any benefit.
Then, when they were getting a girl, got shot in the shoulder and nearly lost an artery in the ensuing day. Apparently the bullet was about an inch from hitting something major and strenuous movement might have killed him.
And then, as if it wasn't bad enough, he woke up to doctor's mumbling about an emergency at a restaurant where a couple were killed and said drug lord who kidnapped the attorneys daughter was found dead. It didn't take him long to figure out that the attorney hired someone to bomb the place.
He managed to find the man, Takaya Koijiro, at his small apartment. Guy was a real piece of work: A megalomaniac who considered himself a messiah and bringer of divine punishment. He apparently saw the unrelated couple as 'casualties of war' and planned to murder the entire drug lord's family. He would've commended him, if not for the fact that the rest of the family was innocent and had no idea why they were being targeted.
Now here he was in the sweltering heat just a day out of the hospital staking out someone's house. The bullet wound in his shoulder hadn't healed. In fact, breathing agitated his muscles and caused him to experience flashes of pain. The heat wasn't doing his injury any favor, and neither was walking around with binoculars in his hands like a hawk.
"You really can't stop, can you?" Yukari muttered softly at his side, "Shot and nearly killed yesterday and now you're walking around like you're not even injured. Do Aria or either of your parent's know you're out of the hospital?" She ventured to ask.
"No..." Saito shook his head and sighed, "That's the whole point of me asking you for help sneaking out of the hospital. Thankfully their schedules are packed so they have little to time to visit me," She couldn't help but notice that his hands twitched when he said that, "I should be fine for the next few days since the doctor's only check in every now and then. I'll just say I went to the bathroom if they ask me any questions..."
Yukari sighed, "Do you ever think that maybe doing this isn't very ideal?" He didn't answer, so she continued, "You're barely able to walk, let alone stand, and you're trying to do something without calling the police or telling your family. Maybe it's time to start asking for help?"
"I did ask for help," He pointed at her, "You're here, aren't you? Trust me when I say that I'd be doing this by myself if I didn't know a tap on my shoulder might kill me." He grunted and looked at the house again, "I know you're busy helping Aria, so I appreciate you taking time out of your schedule to help me. I know this might all seem pointless to you, but this is something someone like me can pull off. Maybe Mom or Aunt Tatenashi can go around the world taking care of crime syndicates, but I can't. I'm making do as best as I can here."
"That's not what I meant," Her voice had taken on an angrier tone as she glared at him, "You don't have to do this, especially not in your condition. Look at you, you can barely stand up! Why don't you just let them take care of-"
"Like they took care of things the last time?" He turned and glared back at her, "If you didn't know, I did try to warn them, back before I started doing this. Mom, Dad, and Aria were too busy with their work, so I had to have somebody else who worked with them deliver messages. Thing is, they're so busy that they don't even have time to read it. And if they do, they think it's junk mail since they get loads of letters every day," He looked down and tried to calm himself, "I've tried talking to them about it, but they never listen or they tell me to inform the police. You have to face facts: They don't think this is important enough to get their attention on. I'm the only one who has the time to do this, so they'll have to to make do with the reject son."
"Th-That's..." She looked down at a loss for words. She'd never heard him talk so much about it. Normally he would tell her that it wasn't any of her business and she would leave it at that. The bullet injury must have agitated him to the point where he started venting, "I didn't mean it like-"
"It doesn't matter," He checked his phone and saw that he had an incoming call. Good thing he set to vibrate, "Look, sorry for whining at you. I know it's already annoying enough that you have to help me, so you don't deserve to get yelled at by-"
"Is this Saito Sarashiki?"
The voice that interrupted was cool and confident. Saito looked down at his phone and saw the unfamiliar number. He had heard that voice far too many times this past day to forget it.
"Yes, Takaya Kojiro, right?" He raised a hand to his lips as a gesture of silence when Yukari gave him a shocked look, "I don't know what you've heard, but-"
"We haven't met, but I know who you are. You and that partner of yours." The distinct sound of a revolver being loaded echoed in his ears, "So tell me, why would you and this partner of yours, Miss Nohotoke, try to stop me?"
"....." Saito didn't answer and deftly tossed the binoculars to Yukari, instructing her to keep a careful watch on the house.
"I got a call from Mr. Souichiro some time ago." He continued, "He said that the people who kidnapped his daughter should get a pass, and that they should be allowed to go free." He did? A strike of conscience or maybe another bribe, Saito didn't know which. Either, way this was good news for him, "As if it was up to him...." He laughed after he said that. Saito suddenly had a had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
*BANG*
The sound of the gunshot echoed out of the phone. Saito tightened his grip and tried to stop the searing headache that came when he heard the loud shot. It gave him way too much of a reminder of what happened just a few hours ago.
"It is NOT up to him!" Saito heard the distinctive sound of a detonator being pressed and an electronic timer beeping, "Once dominoes start falling they have to keep falling. It is what they do, and they tear down anything that stands in their way."
Saito made to cut off the call, but Takaya spoke just before he managed to.
"He's dead. And you can only guess who's next."