Victor took another sip of his coffee. “Anyone talked to this Ice Aura yet? I’ve never heard of him.”

“It’s a ‘her’, and she insist she never had a base at the location. She has no idea who owns the building, what the scroll is and was willing to undergo every lie detecting test we have to prove it. She got nothing to do with this.”

Victor rubbed his eyes with his free hand. Jennifer, Deion, and now Takuma. Why does his kids keep getting into problem one after another? He also didn’t receive any warning about this from Reunion. Victor intends to have a word with his System about it once he is alone.

“Okay.” Victor said. “I can’t make any promises, but I will reach out and see if anyone is willing to do me this favor.”

“Favors? Don’t you have anyone who can do something about this? Someone in this new crew you are putting together, or one of your former contacts.”

“That might be possible, but I am ignorant about magic.” Victor admitted. “I have no idea if anyone I know can assist with this. It is better to make an open call for help. There are many people who want the knowledge I have. Even heroes will be willing to make a trade with me for my knowledge.”

“Thank you.” Koyuki said after a long silence.

“Don’t thank me yet. The police are behind me.”

Koyuki glanced back at the entrance of the diner and saw Night Leopard standing there with two police officers. She smiled.

“I saw them waiting outside. They were waiting for you. I never thought of you as a villain who would work with the police.”

“I never thought I would see the day heroes would work openly with the police. Shows what we know.”

Koyuki giggled at that. Twenty years and it was as charming as the day Victor first heard it. It was nice, but the moment soon passed, and the somber mood returned.

“I never told your daughter our son’s name.” Koyuki said with a questioning look at Victor.

Victor took another sip of his coffee as he realized that was true. “You didn’t have to.”

“I see. How long have you known?”

“Does that matter? It was clear to me you did not want him to have anything to do with me. I can respect that.”

“Oh, and I am sure the fact that you were in prison had nothing to do with it?”

More than a hint of sarcasm shone through Koyuki’s words. It was clear to Victor how she felt about him. Strangely, Victor felt comforted by that. Koyuki must love their son very much. It must have taken a great deal for her to come to him.

“How much does Takuma know?”

“Nothing. He doesn’t know who his father is. Though that will change once he wakes up.”

Victor gave Koyuki a slight nod in agreement and glanced back at the idiots with the video. Both quickly put down their cameras, but the damage had already been done.

“You’re not the only in trouble, you know, I never told Takuma I was in The Game either.” Victor glanced at Koyuki in surprise. She just shrugged. “I didn’t really leave The Game in glory. If he knew who I was, he’ll probably knows who his father is, and I didn’t want that.”

Victor sighed. “I can understand that. I just want you to know what happened wasn’t in the plan. I didn’t know you had our kid till much later. I didn’t-”

“You honey-trapped me.” Koyuki interrupted Victor who could only stay silent. “You made me fall in love with you, made me talk about my work, made me spill secrets, ruined my life, ruined my career, and left me with a child.”

Silence reigned before Victor weakly admitted. “All of that is true. I didn’t know. Not back then.”

“Would it make a difference?” Koyuki asked. “Tell me Victor, would you had come to me if you knew I was having your child? Did you ever love me?”

You could hear a pin drop. The air got heavier, and Victor noticed Jennifer standing nearer to them. Everyone was waiting to hear his answer and Victor told them the truth.

“No. Koyuki, you are a beautiful woman. You were lovely to be around. Surprisingly funny too, but no. I never loved you, and I would not have given up The Game for you or Takuma. To me, it was just business.”

Victor heard someone grasped. He did not know who, and he did not care. He only had eyes on Koyuki, who surprisingly had not shot him yet. Instead, she laughed sadly.

“You are a real bastard, Victor. Thank you for telling me the truth at least.”

“I owned you that much. It’s nothing compared to what you did. Thank you for taking care of our boy all these years.”

Koyuki accepted Victor’s thanks with a nod. “You don’t seem upset with me. For not telling you about him. Why?”

“You only did what everyone else did.” Victor saw Koyuki’s puzzled look and explained. “I have several children, and none of the mothers ever told me. None of them ever visited me in prison. None of them wanted me to take responsibility, or maybe they were afraid I would take responsibility. There’s no need for you to say anything. I understand I was not ‘Father of the Year’ material. I’m still not, but this? I will help you with this.”

Everyone was quiet as Koyuki processed his words.

“I hate you, Victor. This isn’t turning out the way I thought it would, but I still hate you.” Then she quietly sighed. “But I will tell Takuma not to. It was…business, and you only did what you needed to. You are a villain. I knew that, and still let my guard down. What happened was as much my fault as yours.”

Victor gave her a snort as he shook his head. “There is no need for that. You hate me, and you have a right to. What I did was wrong, and whatever you wish to say to-”

A scream from outside the diner cut through the air.