"I don't know anything about him other than he died twelve years ago. Mama always avoided this topic." Ichika said when she heard Hiroyuki's question about his biological father. Hiroyuki could see a frown on her face as Ichika is trying to remember the information about his biological father.

Hiroyuki sighed, readying himself for another emotional outburst.

"From what I find, your father's name was Mudou. But I couldn't find out about his family name." Ichika straightened her seat, looking at him with an inquisitive gaze. "There is a reason for Rena-san to avoid the topic of her former husband. She divorced him a month before his death under the accusation of domestic abuse."

He looked at Ichika's eyes and found a complex yet undescribed expression on her face. Then suddenly, she lets out a burst of laughter for a second.

"Mama sure knew how to pick a man," She said that while wiping a single tear from the corner of her eyes. "Her first husband was accused of physically abusing her, and she got verbal abuse from her second husband. Mama was crap at picking a man, don't you think so, Yuki-san?"

Hiroyuki could only give her a wry smile as he could not help but agree with what he heard. Suddenly, a realization hit his head hard.

"Wait, what do you mean by verbal abuse from her second husband?" Ichika just snorted at him.

"Come on, Yuki-san. I know that you know what I mean." Ichika is true. Hiroyuki indeed knows what Ichika means before. He just needs confirmation even though he knows he will not like what she said.

"Since you didn't say anything, I will spill it out to you. Father's habit to say nasty words to us didn't come in one night. He already did that for a long time to Mama. I don't know when, but I am willing to bet that it was since after they married officially eight years ago.

I found out about that when I was ten years old. At first, I didn't realize that it was verbal abuse. But when he used the exact same words to us in a hateful manner, I started to search for it. That was when I know it was called verbal abuse.

Unfortunately for Mama and us, we couldn't do anything since verbal abuse is not something that you could use in court as evidence for the abuse case. After all, physiological abuse like that didn't leave a scar, right?"

She chuckled bitterly, and there are tears threatened to fall from the corner of her eyes. Seeing her condition, Hiroyuki embraced her in her seat without hesitation. Ichika just smiles as she felt the warm body of Hiroyuki.

"Thank you." She murmured under his body. Hiroyuki didn't say anything, just let the silence hang for a while. After almost a minute, Ichika broke the silence as she said,

"So, you know what father did to Mama, and I know what my biological father did to Mama. What do you want to say?" She said it as she shifted her seat to get closer to Hiroyuki.

"Well.." Hiroyuki tried to ignore the boldness of Ichika. "There are a lot of weird things surrounding Rena-san's divorce. First, Maruo Nakano was the doctor who supported Rena-san's claim about being abused by Mudou-san. Then, it was also Maruo Nakano who was responsible for Mudou-san's death. Maruo Nakano was also the one who paid for Mudou-san's funeral, but he did that privately. Only he and Rena-san know where is the grave. Isn't that suspicious?"

Ichika pondered for a moment before she said, "I understand your suspicion. What I don't understand is where would your explanation go." Hiroyuki took a deep breath before talking once again,

"It seems they were somehow involved in something shady with my father. You know my father, right?" Ichika's eyes widened in realization. "My father was Akira Shimizu, the genius and cold-hearted businessman, also one of the richest men in Japan when he was alive. Mudou-san and Maruo Nakano were somehow involved with this kind of man."

"How?" Ichika could only let out a soft whisper.

"I found the copy of my father's bank account when I checked my father's old document last month. It seems my father received some money from Maruo Nakano and transferred it to the bank account with the name of Teito High School, the school that Mudou led. But the money was still transferred even after his death, and it is strange as my father was not even an alumnus of that school. That is why I guess Mudou is not really dead."

This time, Ichika is totally flabbergasted at what she heard and didn't really know what to say.

"So, you tell me the abuser of Mama faked his death and has a connection with Father. What do you want me to do about that information?" She asked after a while.

"I want you to be prepared," Hiroyuki replied. "Whatever my father did with Maruo Nakano and Mudou-san is not something we should take it lightly. When things were leaked out, it would affect your life."

"When?" Hiroyuki nodded at Hiroyuki's whisper.

"Yes, you noticed it. I said when and not if, because I know some people have already sniffed out my father's deed." He said that while thinking about Sanzaemon Nakiri. "It will take no long time for someone to connect the dots to Maruo Nakano."

"What do you think I should do?"

"Find out for yourself. So, you will not get too surprised when the news leaked out. Hire a detective and consult a lawyer if you need to. You need to take control of the situation when things leaked out." Hiroyuki took his time and think about the quintuplet's situation. Suddenly, he remembers a couple of a detective and a lawyer.

"In fact, if you have more money, you can hire Kogoro Mouri and Eri Kisaki. They both are a couple with Mouri-san as a detective and Kisaki-san as a lawyer. You can ask Mouri-san to investigate the relationship between our father and ask Kisaki-san not only about what to do with this information but also about your condition with Maruo Nakano. She is proficient in law, so there must be something we can do about it."

While Hiroyuki didn't want to involve in Detective Conan's plot, he really thinks that the quintuplets will need someone like them to talk to. Meanwhile, Ichika didn't give him an immediate answer. She just closed her eyes and rested her head on Hiroyuki.

"If I do as you said, I will have to talk to my sisters about it. Do you think they should know about this?" She asked with a hint of vulnerability in her voice. Hiroyuki could understand that she didn't want to involve her sisters in this situation. However, unfortunately for them, they were involved since the beginning.

"Yes, you should tell them. It is what I said as controlling the situation. It is better if they know about it from you rather than they know it from the news in a more chaotic situation."

Ichika pondered what Hiroyuki said before she sighed in a defeated manner.

"I hope life would be much easier for us in the future." She muttered under her breath. Hiroyuki just gives her a small smile as he rubbed her head. They didn't talk about anything for the rest of the night until they could hear Nino call them from afar.

"Ichika! Yuki-san! Here you are! It has been an hour since you left. We are worried about you! Let's go back!" Nino said while she panted, steadying her breath after running from the apartment. Ichika smiles a bit when she looked at her sister. Suddenly, to Nino's surprise, Ichika stood up and hugged Nino tightly.

"W-What are you doing, Ichika?!" Nino gets flustered by the sudden affection.

"Please," Ichika whispered softly. "Let me do this for a while." Nino's eyes softened when she heard the vulnerable voice from Ichika and decided to hug her back. They remained in the same position for a moment before Ichika raised up her head.

"Thank you, Nino." Ichika smiles after she released the hug. "I am fine now. Let's go back." Nino just looked at her strangely.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Nino asked with a concerned face. Ichika just gives her a smile and said,

"I will be. But we will talk about it later." Then, she turned her attention to Hiroyuki who waited for them.

"Thank you for taking care of us. I will probably meet you at the Den tomorrow after I talk with my sisters." Hiroyuki nodded at her.

"No need to thank me. Megumi' Den will always welcome you and your sisters." Ichika sent a small smile and whispered,

"Thank you." And then, the three of them went straight back to the apartment.

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Author note:

You can also read:

- Transmigrated Into Anime World as Kiyoko Shimizu's Older Brother up to chapter 55

You can read all of it at my Patreon account, pat_reon.com/zwolf1 (Without '_') Thank you for your support! :)