Chapter 18
The system watched Hagiwara Kenji's suspicion values jump up and down with satisfaction, starting to praise Usuha Izuki wildly.
[You're so good! Originally because of the life-saving debt, Hagiwara Kenji's suspicion values weren't very high. He's too rational and considerate of others, always finding reasons to convince himself... Too amazing! Don't be modest—this acting is decent!]
Usuha Izuki was modest: [Not really, I just truthfully described the 'Black Screen Aura' effect.]
System: [...]
[Look at the agent—he refused me once, and today when we came back, his dark circles were so heavy it looked like he hadn't slept... I really don't believe anyone could sleep well after offending Samukawa Shinryu.]
System: [...Alright, enough. I had illusions about your acting ability. Continue.]
Hagiwara Kenji had probably finally recovered and was looking at Usuha Izuki with an indescribable expression while asking a soul-searching question.
"Do you think this answer could pass an interview? Is this how a police officer should answer?"
Hagiwara Kenji just wanted to know how Samukawa Shinryu's language arts teachers had taught him.
Usuha Izuki naturally knew this answer wouldn't work, but this wasn't a real interview, and he couldn't control his desire to grind suspicion values!
Ordinary people might not like being misunderstood—feeling wronged and wanting to explain after a little misunderstanding. But Usuha Izuki thrived on it. Except when negotiating compensation with the system where he acted reluctant, he actually had no resistance at all.
He even felt that perhaps the Suspicion Value System suited him better than the Undercover System—he'd actually profited!
After all, his acting... well, Usuha Izuki knew his limitations. Compared to gaining others' trust, provoking their suspicion was easier.
But Usuha Izuki also understood moderation and sustainable wool-pulling. Facing Hagiwara Kenji's questioning, he answered very seriously.
"Because I don't know how to answer either, and since I'm asking Hagiwara-san, I might as well tell the truth and wait for your correction—I also want to explain that I didn't threaten the agent. His poor sleep is just his own overthinking."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Well, I didn't misunderstand that..."
This deliberate explanation actually confused him more!
So have people really lost sleep wanting to kill you before?!
The suspicion values fluctuated again.
Due to the life-saving debt, Hagiwara Kenji had very high initial favorability toward Usuha Izuki, so the 'Black Screen Aura' effect was much lighter. Hagiwara Kenji couldn't really understand others' attitudes when facing Samukawa Shinryu.
Only when Usuha Izuki deliberately said things that caused misunderstandings could the 'Black Screen Aura' effect work normally on Hagiwara Kenji.
However, even if Hagiwara Kenji's imagination went as far as wondering if Usuha Izuki might really be some mastermind, with saving people just incidental because he found the bomber's low-level operation displeasing...
But thinking that some people looked scary but privately needed police guarantee just to rent a place made him calm down, even want to laugh, and feel a bit sorry for him.
However, Hagiwara Kenji felt Samukawa Shinryu seemed to talk a bit more than initially.
When they first met, even with such misunderstandings, he barely spoke. This time he specially explained as if worried about being misunderstood...
Could it be that Samukawa Shinryu actually wanted to be friends with him but was too embarrassed?
After all, strangers' misunderstandings didn't matter, but being misunderstood by friends would be sad...
Hagiwara Kenji was silent for a while, filled in the logic himself, then considerately spoke: "Samukawa-kun... um, don't call me Hagiwara-san anymore either. Just use my name—we're not that far apart in age, right?"
Though Hagiwara Kenji was in high school when Usuha Izuki was in elementary school, seriously speaking, they weren't far apart in age. Besides, this was a fake identity with falsified age.
So Usuha Izuki didn't refuse: "Alright, Kenji. You can call me by name too."
"Then... Little Shinryu?"
Usuha Izuki nodded: "That's fine."
Though written as Shinryu, it was actually pronounced [Shizuka].
Samukawa flowing gently, still waters run deep.
Before meeting Samukawa Shinryu, Hagiwara Kenji had never seen someone whose aura matched their name so perfectly.
He deliberately used an intimate form of address to dilute Samukawa Shinryu's forbidding aloofness, hoping others hearing such a cute nickname would change their opinion of Samukawa Shinryu.
Highlighting the contrast charm!
After saying it, even Hagiwara Kenji felt less wary and more relaxed toward Samukawa Shinryu—language truly had power!
With Hagiwara Kenji's help, after settling into his new home, Usuha Izuki seemed to finally remember social etiquette and invited Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei to his housewarming dinner.
Hagiwara Kenji had helped before so was familiar with the place. Matsuda Jinpei was visiting for the first time and looked around more.
While Usuha Izuki went to make tea, Matsuda Jinpei couldn't help saying: "...The color of this tatami border..."
Didn't it look stained with blood?
Hagiwara Kenji coughed and whispered: "I told you it's a haunted house!"
Matsuda Jinpei had never rented a haunted house and was shocked: "They don't replace bloodstained items before renting to the next person?"
Hagiwara Kenji said tactfully: "It's been disinfected... Actually, they could replace it, but Little Shinryu said no need, that flipping it over was the same, and directly got part of the price cut."
Meaning he saved money.
When Samukawa Shinryu said this, the agent's face turned even greener, even saying nonsense like "police can test that the blood isn't from the same person."
Hagiwara Kenji sympathized but didn't want to delve into what else he'd imagined. He could only say Samukawa Shinryu heard such words without changing expression and didn't plan to argue—truly magnanimous.
But Matsuda Jinpei's focus wasn't on price. He just repeated uncomfortably: "Little Shinryu..."
Hagiwara could really say it!
Didn't he feel this nickname completely didn't suit Samukawa Shinryu?!
Hagiwara Kenji felt it too but pretended not to notice the incongruity: "Very cute, right? You can call him that too."
"I won't." Matsuda Jinpei gritted his teeth. "I think Samukawa-kun is fine."
Unless teasing someone, he'd never use nicknames like "xx-chan~"! Otherwise, it wouldn't just be whether Samukawa Shinryu felt awkward—he'd feel awkward too!!
"Besides, using 'cute' with Samukawa-kun..." Matsuda Jinpei felt disgusted.
He didn't have opinions about Samukawa Shinryu—he just felt the incongruity was off the charts!
"Don't you understand contrast charm? Contrast charm." Hagiwara Kenji insisted. "Little Shinryu is like an iron wall—this cute name is about the only breakthrough... He seems to really have no friends besides me. I hope he can make friends at Police Academy, like how we met the class leader and others."
This was someone else's home, so many things had to be said carefully. Considering those two guys might be doing dangerous work like undercover operations, Matsuda Jinpei suppressed his complaints and just expressed an important opinion.
"I think Samukawa-kun might be more suited for undercover work. Whether he makes friends isn't that necessary."
"..." Hagiwara Kenji's mouth twitched. "I considered that before, but Samukawa-kun said he prefers going to crime scenes..."
Even Hagiwara Kenji, with his extremely high tolerance for Samukawa Shinryu, couldn't control his imagination hearing this answer.
The 'Black Screen Aura' was starting to work!
Originally, liking any career direction was personal freedom, and reasons like enjoying solving cases made perfect sense.
But thinking of Samukawa Shinryu saying he liked going to crime scenes gave Hagiwara Kenji's mental image of him a sinister filter.
Did he like blood? Or corpses? Could not replacing the bloodstained tatami be not about saving money but personal preference?
Or like criminals who enjoyed returning to scenes to admire their work, was Samukawa Shinryu a crime connoisseur who enjoyed appreciating others' methods?
Could he want first-hand information to perfect his own plans for the perfect crime?!
Hagiwara Kenji, led astray by the agent's vague "Moriarty" comment, gradually shifted from conventional to bizarre imagination.
Like Matsuda Jinpei, who hadn't contacted the agent and wasn't infected by wild theories, hearing this answer thought at most—
Did he want to appear at scenes frequently to make the public misunderstand police and damage their reputation?
Both were good people who would never voice their thoughts to avoid bad influence. After rationality overcame emotions triggered by the 'Black Screen Aura,' they both silently apologized to Samukawa Shinryu.
Thinking such things about someone without evidence was too much...
Usuha Izuki made tea and saw suspicion values steadily flowing out, quite pleased.
[Keeping the tatami was right. If I get a chance to invite detectives over, they'll definitely think even more!]
System: [...]
It felt this wasn't about the tatami...
Usuha Izuki waited for the suspicion values to plateau before returning to the living room with a tray to serve tea.
Matsuda Jinpei looked at him and couldn't help sighing.
What to do! Even if the interviewer was the open-minded Instructor Onizuka, the more he understood Samukawa Shinryu, the more he felt his chances were plummeting.
"Samukawa-kun, I think you need more interview cramming." Matsuda Jinpei's expression was grave.
They couldn't hope for Instructor Onizuka to suddenly go blind! There were two interviewers!!
Sigh, if he didn't pass, he'd need to find work next. He'd better start looking out for jobs Samukawa Shinryu could do. When guarantees were needed, they'd ask police again—if one wasn't enough, two; if two weren't enough, he'd ask the class leader to guarantee too...
Matsuda Jinpei prepared for the worst.
Hagiwara Kenji wasn't idle either.
After Samukawa Shinryu's interview ended, he went straight to the Police Academy and tactfully asked Instructor Onizuka if there were any noteworthy new recruits this term.
"Already scouting prospects for your explosives disposal unit? Isn't it too early?" Instructor Onizuka looked surprised.
"No, I just heard there's a rather special new recruit this time—first in written exams but everyone agreed he wouldn't pass the interview. I'm curious."
"...Oh, you mean him... You have good connections for someone to tell you." Without needing names, Instructor Onizuka immediately guessed who, his expression very complex. "How to put it... I'm under a lot of pressure."
Hagiwara Kenji sensed opportunity—rejection would just be rejection, but considering acceptance created pressure: "Why do you say that?"
"When I asked why he wanted to be a police officer... he answered, 'Because someone said I'd eventually turn to crime, and I want to prove he was wrong.'"
Where was the pressure?
Before Hagiwara Kenji could ask more, another interviewer beside them suddenly grabbed his head in pain and answered first.
"You understand? It's like the Vienna Art School interviewing Hitler—there's this feeling that refusing the person in front of you, while he wouldn't immediately start World War II, would still make him a major problem for police..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "............"
The agent had only thought he was like Moriarty, but the instructor was going straight to Hitler?
—Samukawa Shinryu doesn't deserve this!!