(BL) Mafia Love; He who falls the hardest loses-Chapter 179: Avoiding him?

A smile lifted the corners of his lips slightly. The more he thought of it, the less he could hold back his smile as his smile broadened. The only regret he had was not being the one who did.

Perhaps if he did it, he wouldn’t be as happy as he was. Aiichiro had died too fast. He didn’t suffer the way Haruki wanted him to. But he didn’t feel that the vengeance he got was insufficient.

Rather such death brought him peace. The man who killed his aunt and grand aunt was dead. Shinya finally got his vengeance after a few years.

It brought him more peace and joy than he could imagine. This was different from Ren’s death. Perhaps the relief he felt lay in the fact that Aiichiro’s death was announced as a natural death. His body had become ashes and there was no way anyone could perform an autopsy to change his belief.

He had halted all his plans because of Aiichiro but he could finally focus on things that mattered.

Haruki’s smile froze and quickly disappeared when he remembered his doctor. He wondered if he would succeed at changing the distant attitude Hiroshi had toward him.

He wondered if he would be able to make the man look at him warmly again. To make the man smile at him. Get the man to kiss his lips again.

A tired sigh escaped his lips before he could stop himself.

***

Haruki tried to keep himself too busy with work to avoid thinking about the doctor. He remembered how he had dismissed Hiroshi without responding properly to what he had said.

He blamed his actions on Hiroshi not coming back to check on Kataro and relayed all orders to the nurse.

Haruki wondered if Hiroshi was avoiding him intentionally. It felt too exaggerated to think that way so he concluded that the doctor was just too busy with work that he had no time to visit Kataro.

That was the method he chose to ease his worried heart. If Hiroshi wanted to be with him, he knew the man to be tenacious when pursuing his lover.

The man had waited constantly to meet him for days but he was stopped by his guards but now when everything had settled down a bit, Hiroshi was nowhere to be found.

Monday came a bit too fast. He was busy handling the reintegration of the men he was responsible for into society that he barely had time. This was something his grandfather considered very important.

He had a team handling it but he made sure to know about everything being done and be involved in every decision made. It was the same thing he forgot about when he was determined to kill Aiichiro but thanks to Hiroshi that was a settled issue.

Half an hour before lunch time, the meeting with his team ended just in time to receive a call. He looked down at the screen of his phone. It was not Hiroshi as he hoped since he had unblocked the man’s number. It was Aiichiro’s assistant.

He remembered the plan to meet. He was very hesitant about it because Kiyoshi had reported that it was a lot. He sighed and picked up the call. It was an invitation to lunch.

Haruki really wanted a peaceful lunch time but that had to be forfeited with this not-too-sudden call. He accepted the invitation reluctantly.

He informed Kiyoshi when he walked out of the conference room. "Did you get a detailed list of what was left to me?" he asked as they walked to the elevator.

"No but most of his private properties were not listed among what he left to his family members."

Haruki frowned as his eyes got a bit weary. "Make sure none of it appears on the news," he ordered.

Kiyoshi accepted the order and looked down at his tablet as the elevator descended.

"I was told to advise you to accept the inheritance," Kiyoshi said as they walked towards the exit of the building.

Haruki’s eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced at Kiyoshi walking beside him. "Who did?"

"Dr. Yamamoto."

So the man was still interested in his life. Perhaps he was really just busy. He wondered what would happen if he rejected the inheritance. It was only rational that he did that after all, they were not related.

It was tempting to want to reject it and show he had nothing to do with the man as was the truth but he felt the need to accept it more intensely with Kiyoshi’s message.

"Ask him why."

"Okay."

***

Aiichiro’s assistant had already arrived at the restaurant by the time they got there. He felt no need to be as cautious as he was when Aiichiro arrived first.

He sensed no danger even when the lawyer arrived and introduced himself to Haruki. They sat down and lunch was served according to what they ordered.

Haruki ate lightly and waited for them. Seeing Haruki had dropped his chopsticks and leaned back, the lawyer and assistant also stopped eating and dabbed their lips with napkins.

The lawyer opened his suitcase and took his copy of Aiichiro’s will and read it.

The dead man had left all his private properties to Haruki in the name of a friendship he didn’t want to end even after his death and there was no one else who could protect them as Haruki would.

"What does his family think about this?" Haruki asked seriously.

Although Aiichiro left nothing connected to their company to him, he could imagine the rage they felt knowing that the illegitimate son who died early didn’t leave a single penny he owned to them.

"Their opinions are irrelevant. The will is legal and Aiichiro followed all legal procedures to document it."

Haruki paused unable to say a word for a few seconds. What was this? Did Aiichiro know he was going to die? "When did he write the will?"

"Two years ago. He was without an heir so he wrote this will to make things easier until he gets an heir."

"What happened two years ago?"

"He felt ill and his family requested as expected that he should have a will documented."

"Why did he choose me?" Haruki wished he could resurrect the dead man to ask him. They weren’t even in contact with each other two years ago.

"I wish I could give you an answer but he didn’t make it clear when he wrote that," the assistant replied calmly.

Watching the man, Haruki wondered if he was telling the truth.

"I will advise you to accept the inheritance," the assistant leaned forward and said respectfully.

Haruki remembered Kiyoshi saying something similar he wondered what it was about.

"Do you think it is okay for me to accept it?"

"It was left to you, you have every right," the lawyer replied.

"Despite how estranged our relationship was?" Haruki found it hard to understand.

If he killed the man and was interested in stealing what he owned, he would have been overjoyed accepting the spoils but this felt too suspicious.

"Perhaps this is his apology," Kiyoshi said on the ride back to work.

"For killing three people in my life?" Haruki asked. "Is he trying to become a kind deity after his death?" It felt like a joke he didn’t want to be a part of.

The ride back continued quietly. Haruki was lost in thought. Since most people were advising him to accept it, he began thinking towards accept it. He weighed all the pros and cons. Aiichiro was wealthy and all his private properties would be worth more than a few billion.

That was just too much money. He knew he was powerful enough to fight for it if Aiichiro’s family tried using a lawsuit to take it from him but the attention would be just too much.

A friend died and left billions to a friend he wasn’t particularly close to. He was at the scene of the man’s death. He was certain a lot of people would have a field day with such a story. However, he still thought towards accepting it.

***

Hiroshi came to visit Kataro. The man chose when he was at work to come and he left before Haruki got off work. Haruki was almost certain at this point that the man was avoiding him and it was not simply because he was too busy.

To confirm this, he left work before dinner time and stopped at the hospital. He walked into the building and very easily found his way to Hiroshi’s office.

He knew he could ask and find out where Hiroshi was, but he didn’t want to distract him so he waited in the office. Word has spread that he was around because Dr Yamamoto came over.

Haruki glanced at his wrist watch. He had been waiting in the tidy office that smelt of antiseptic—but also seemed to have a trace of Hiroshi’s scent engraved in it—for more than an hour.

With a slight furrow of brow, he invited the old man in.

Dr Yamamoto bowed deeply as soon as he entered and closed the door behind him.