The walk to the hidden library was different this time. Before, it had been a place of secrets discovered, of quiet lessons. Now, it felt like the antechamber to a throne room where judgment was about to be passed. Aiko walked beside Kaito, acutely aware of the shift in the estate's atmosphere. Though the servants they passed still bowed low, their faces impassive, there was an undercurrent of tension, a ripple of awareness that something significant, something internal, was happening. The walls didn't just have ears; they had allegiances.
Aiko felt a knot of anxiety tighten in her stomach. This wasn't like facing the Kageyama, clear-cut enemies who wanted her dead. This was family. Kaito's family. Betrayal cut deeper than any blade, and the wounds it left could fester for generations. Yet, walking beside Kaito, matching his steady, resolute pace, she also felt a surprising sense of belonging. He hadn't asked her to wait behind. He hadn't shielded her. He had brought her directly into the heart of his clan's crisis, trusting her not just as his detector, but as his witness. His partner.
They entered the library. The familiar scent of old paper and incense did little to dispel the chilling atmosphere. Kaito didn't sit. He stood near the large central table, his back straight, his hands clasped behind him, assuming the posture of the clan head awaiting a subordinate. Aiko took a position slightly behind him and to the side, a silent, watchful presence.
Minutes stretched into tense silence. Then, the heavy door slid open. Kenji entered, his face grim, his arm still in its sling. Behind him, flanked by two impassive Ishikawa guards, was Kenzo.
Kaito's cousin looked pale and disheveled, his usual arrogant sneer replaced by a poorly concealed terror. His eyes darted around the room, landing first on Kaito's cold, unyielding expression, then flicking towards Aiko with a mixture of shock and contempt. Her? The outsider? Here?
The guards brought Kenzo to the center of the room and forced him to his knees. He knelt on the tatami mat, refusing to meet Kaito's gaze.
Kaito let the silence stretch, the weight of his disapproval a palpable force in the room. Finally, he spoke, his voice quiet but carrying the unmistakable ring of absolute authority.
"Ishikawa Kenzo," Kaito began, his tone deceptively calm. "You are my blood. You bear our name. You swore an oath of loyalty to this clan. An oath taken before our ancestors and the spirits bound to our family."
Kenzo flinched but remained silent, his head bowed.
"Loyalty," Kaito continued, beginning to pace slowly, deliberately, "is the bedrock upon which this house is built. It is the chain that binds us, stronger than any steel. Betrayal... betrayal is a poison. It rots from within. It invites disaster. It cannot, and will not, be tolerated."
He stopped pacing directly in front of his kneeling cousin. "Explain yourself."
Kenzo looked up, his eyes filled with a desperate, cornered fear. "Sama, I... I do not understand. I have done nothing—"
Kaito didn't raise his voice. He simply reached into his pocket and placed the crushed remains of the listening device on the table beside the pristine, untouched forged scroll Kenji had retrieved. The evidence lay there, stark and damning.
"This," Kaito said, his voice dropping to an icy whisper, "was found hidden within these walls. Within this library. A place accessible only to myself, Master Jin, Kenji... and, on rare occasions when assisting Master Jin with cataloging, you."
Kenzo stared at the crushed device, his face losing all color.
"This morning," Kaito continued, his gaze flicking briefly towards Aiko, acknowledging her role without needing to name her explicitly, "someone accessed this scroll. Someone whose spiritual signature did not belong. Someone whose touch triggered a ward placed specifically for them." He paused, letting the implication sink in. "Someone who then went directly to the East Wing. To my uncle's quarters."
Kenzo began to tremble. "It... it wasn't me! It was..."
"Do not insult my intelligence further, Kenzo," Kaito cut him off, his voice sharp as a blade. "Do not add cowardice and lies to the crime of treason."
He knelt, bringing himself face-to-face with his cousin. The barely contained fury in Kaito's eyes made Kenzo visibly shrink back. "Why?" Kaito demanded, the single word filled with a dangerous weight. "Why would you betray your own blood? Your own clan?"
Under that intense, unwavering gaze, Kenzo finally broke. Tears streamed down his face, mixing with sweat. "He made me do it!" he sobbed, the words tumbling out in a rush of fear and self-pity. "Father... he said you were weak. Soft. That your... your methods were ruining the clan. He said you were obsessed with that... that outsider!" His eyes darted towards Aiko with pure venom before snapping back to Kaito. "He said someone had to watch you, to gather proof for the elders! He promised me... he promised me status... power... if I helped him remove you."
So, it was true. Jiro wasn't just whispering dissent. He was actively plotting a coup, using his own son as a spy.
Kaito listened to the pathetic confession, his expression turning from cold fury to a deep, weary contempt. He stood up slowly, looking down at the weeping man on the floor.
"You are a fool, Kenzo," Kaito said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Blinded by petty jealousy and ambition. You allowed yourself to be used as a tool by a man who would sacrifice his own son for a chance at power." He looked at the guards. "Take him to the confinement cells in the west wing. He will await my final judgment there. Ensure he is... comfortable. But alone."
The guards hauled the now-limp Kenzo to his feet and dragged him from the room. The door slid shut, leaving Kaito and Aiko alone once more with Kenji.
The first rat had been caught, interrogated, and caged. But the true snake, Ishikawa Jiro, Kaito's own uncle, remained coiled in the heart of the family, now surely aware that his plot had been exposed.
Kaito turned to Kenji, the brief flicker of contempt gone, replaced by the cold, hard focus of a leader preparing for the final battle. "Summon my uncle," he commanded. "Tell him I require his presence in the Grand Hall. Immediately." He then looked at Aiko, his eyes holding a silent question, an offer.
Aiko met his gaze, her own resolve solidifying. She gave a single, firm nod. She would stand by his side for this, too.
The hunt was over. The purge was about to begin.