Chapter 25
Officer Komatsu carefully observed the person across from him.
The young man's hair was like the night sky outside—a dark blue nearly black, his eyes like pools of blood. Making accidental eye contact gave a dangerous feeling that one's soul might be sucked away.
He wore a small-collared military-style jacket, sitting on the police box's simple chair. Though there was a backrest, he didn't lean against it, keeping his back perfectly straight, his long legs crossed, black-gloved hands folded and resting lightly on his legs. His posture was calm and elegant, somehow giving the cramped police box the atmosphere of an enemy command center.
Officer Komatsu would glance over and immediately look away as if burned, then sneak another peek before quickly pretending nothing happened.
He'd just watched a movie called "The Silence of the Lambs" yesterday and couldn't help feeling that this person resembled the cannibal doctor Hannibal from the film.
The same elegance, the same composure, the same bone-chilling quality, the same likelihood of giving him nightmares tonight.
During patrol, the moment he saw this person, he felt his police DNA activate.
Officer Komatsu had never felt his thoughts move so quickly—this guy was on the phone, was he contacting accomplices? Right across from the bank—could he be planning to rob it...
One hand in his pocket—was he holding a gun? If he approached now, would it be too dangerous? What if the other party attacked directly...
Despite his concerns, Officer Komatsu quickly made his decision.
He was a police officer! His sense of justice wouldn't allow such a suspicious person to wander in his jurisdiction—especially when a kidnapping case had just occurred in his area, requiring heightened vigilance!
So Officer Komatsu gathered his courage and tried to approach for questioning, hoping to catch something incriminating.
Officer Komatsu only managed to say one sentence: "Excuse me, may I trouble you for a moment?"
He hadn't expected that the moment he finished speaking, a colleague's voice—one he heard daily—came from the other party's phone: "Wait, is that Komatsu?! Komatsu, where are you now? Please bring this gentleman over!"
Officer Komatsu's legs nearly gave out in that instant.
He was actually on the phone with his colleague—could this be one of those legendary performance-type criminals who liked calling police to taunt them?!
This was definitely a dangerous individual!
His mind went almost completely blank. His hand instinctively moved toward his baton while he could only mechanically say: "Please come with me..."
When he came to his senses, he'd somehow already brought the person back to the police box.
His colleagues looked at him like he was a hero, quietly asking how he'd managed it—they'd been ready to dispatch backup to rescue him... He didn't know either!
Probably because the other party was very cooperative?
Hearing this answer, the police officers all became extremely vigilant—what kind of new provocative tactic was this? Was he so confident they couldn't find evidence?!
The missing girl's phone was still in his hands! How would he explain that?!
The young man said very calmly: "I picked it up on the roadside."
The police officers: "............"
You won't even think through your lies—who are you looking down on?!
What's the difference between this and telling a teacher you did your homework but forgot to bring it?! Obviously fake!
Facing their doubts, he responded calmly and rationally: "I'm a Police Academy student. It's normal to turn in phones found on the roadside. Your instructors should have taught you not to make assumptions without evidence. You should focus your attention on catching the real culprit."
The police officers: "...???"
After learning his instructor was Onizuka, Officer Komatsu, as a former student of Onizuka's class, quickly called Instructor Onizuka to verify the information and received a very difficult-to-accept answer.
If this person really was Samukawa Shinryu, then he truly was a Police Academy student.
...Why would they admit this guy? No matter how you looked at it, he seemed like an undercover agent sent by some yakuza group! With such strong presence, small gangs couldn't produce someone like this—maybe he was from a dragon-head organization like the Deisenkai, possibly even a future leader...
Had the principal gone crazy in just one year? They hadn't noticed before?
As Officer Komatsu was lost in wild thoughts, he suddenly heard someone approaching quickly. Looking up, he was surprised to see a familiar figure.
"Hagiwara?"
He and Hagiwara Kenji were from the same class, both in Onizuka's group, with vivid memories of the particularly troublesome five-person team.
Hagiwara Kenji also recognized him: "Komatsu, long time no see... I heard about the situation from Instructor Onizuka. Sorry for the trouble—I think this is a misunderstanding... Little Shinryu!"
Hearing this nauseating nickname, Officer Komatsu involuntarily shivered.
He looked at Samukawa Shinryu in horror, unable to believe he'd allow others to call him such a cute nickname.
Hagiwara Kenji noticed Officer Komatsu's expression and said with a smile: "Don't look at him as cold—he's actually a good person. See? I call him this and he doesn't get angry."
Officer Komatsu: "............"
No way—he looked nothing like a good person. Even now, he couldn't accept that this was actually a Police Academy student who would become his colleague...
Seeing Hagiwara Kenji arrive, Usuha Izuki stood up and walked over.
Although they treated him as a suspect, they at least had some common sense and hadn't actually handcuffed him, or he'd have had to teach these police officers a lesson.
Hagiwara Kenji was still asking his classmate about the situation: "So someone was kidnapped? And the kidnapped person's phone happened to be found by Little Shinryu?"
"Right." Officer Komatsu still got goosebumps hearing 'Little Shinryu.' "So everyone's very busy now."
Hagiwara Kenji frowned: "I see. Any clues on the phone?"
"Well... there's an email that's a bit strange, like some kind of code." Officer Komatsu glanced at Usuha Izuki standing beside Hagiwara Kenji. "But the phone's already been sent to the Metropolitan Police, and according to regulations, I can't tell you too much before the case is solved."
Actually, they all knew each other well. If Hagiwara Kenji wanted to know, Officer Komatsu wouldn't mind saying more—after all, rules were dead but people were alive. As long as nothing went wrong, no one would pursue this responsibility.
But there was still Samukawa Shinryu nearby!
Although he knew this was also a future police officer, he felt inexplicably uneasy, feeling like he couldn't discuss such topics in front of him, or it would feel like giving intelligence to the enemy...
Hagiwara Kenji was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood Officer Komatsu's concerns.
He considerately gave up pursuing the matter: "I see. Well, good luck with that. But Little Shinryu just found the phone—he should be able to leave after making a record, right?"
"Uh, yes. If the case later requires anything from Mr. Samukawa, we might need to trouble him again..."
Officer Komatsu thought to himself that usually when this happened, it meant Samukawa Shinryu's suspicion had increased. He hoped this wouldn't occur, or the Metropolitan Police Academy's reputation might be finished!
Hagiwara Kenji had wanted to chat more with his old classmate—he remembered the class leader was also assigned to work here and wanted to ask where he'd gone. But seeing Officer Komatsu looking so stressed just answering normal questions, he fell silent for a moment: "Alright, we'll leave first. Hope you find that poor girl quickly..."
This wouldn't work. Students from that class could already eat meals near Samukawa Shinryu—even at a distance, eating quickly, that was still normal dining. But it felt like Komatsu and the others could only lose their appetite around Samukawa Shinryu.
The gap was too big!
Hagiwara Kenji felt somewhat emotional and started to leave with Samukawa Shinryu, but noticed Samukawa Shinryu hadn't moved.
"Little Shinryu?" Hagiwara Kenji called out in confusion.
Usuha Izuki calmly gave Officer Komatsu an address, then said: "You might want to check this place—maybe there'll be some clues."
Officer Komatsu: "...?!?!?!"
What did that mean?! Did this guy really know something?! These investigating officers hadn't even heard of this address—how could he know more than them?!
Hagiwara Kenji was also shocked, but his immunity to the 'Black Screen Aura' effect was stronger than Officer Komatsu's. His rationality returned quickly and he tried to analyze the situation.
Smart people knew when to keep quiet, and Samukawa Shinryu wasn't a show-off personality type, so he must have a reason.
Could it be that when he found the phone, he discovered something?
Hagiwara Kenji asked directly: "Why does Little Shinryu think there might be clues there?"
Usuha Izuki nodded toward the documents on Officer Komatsu's desk with his chin, which contained transcribed email content: "It's written there."
Officer Komatsu snapped back to attention. Under his gaze, he instinctively wanted to cover the documents on his desk, then awkwardly returned his hands to their proper position: "You mean you decoded this cipher?"
Strange—according to the timeline he'd confirmed with colleagues, basically his colleague had just called and chatted with Samukawa Shinryu for a few moments before he appeared and confiscated the phone as evidence. The phone was password-protected—they could answer calls but couldn't check emails until they figured out Miss Ohara's birthday to unlock it...
Surely this guy couldn't have glanced over, solved the cipher in less than a minute?
Even considering the angle, what Samukawa Shinryu saw was upside-down, his own handwritten cursive! He could read that clearly and decode a cipher?!
Officer Komatsu found it hard to believe: "How did you figure it out?"
Usuha Izuki said calmly: "This isn't really a cipher—she made typing errors when touch-typing, and made several mistakes."
Samukawa Shinryu's original character setting was created to join the Organization. Surviving in the Organization wouldn't be easy, so exchanging for some cipher-breaking skills was normal, right?
Hagiwara Kenji took it over to look for a while, mentally corresponding with the keyboard to translate, and slowly reached the same conclusion: "It really is."
Getting Hagiwara Kenji's confirmation, Officer Komatsu frantically started making phone calls.
Usuha Izuki even comforted him: "No need to rush. Such a simple problem—maybe the seniors already discovered it."
Officer Komatsu: "............"
Could you not call them seniors? I feel scared... We're all completely innocent... What's this feeling of experiencing being undercover without much trouble...
But probably because Usuha Izuki overestimated the regional police's efficiency, when Officer Komatsu called, they were still struggling to decode the email cipher. Discovering it had already been solved, everyone was very pleased.
"I see, so simple—I was overthinking..." His colleague sounded energized on the other end. "Did you solve it? Really can't judge by appearances—I'll apply for a commendation for you later..."
"It wasn't me." Officer Komatsu said weakly. "It was Mr. Samukawa who found the phone who decoded it. Maybe we could apply for a case assistance reward for him..."
The phone fell into deathly silence.
In this unbearable quiet, Hagiwara Kenji's phone suddenly rang.
He looked at the caller ID and answered: "Instructor..."
Instructor Onizuka's tone was grave: "You're there? You've seen him? How is it—definitely nothing wrong, right?"
"Uh..." Hagiwara Kenji hesitated.
Instructor Onizuka's heart immediately rose, and he felt terrible: "He didn't just find a phone, did he? Did he get deeply involved?!"
"No, Instructor." Hagiwara Kenji coughed. "Little Shinryu is helping solve the case. If there are no problems, the school might even commend him..."
Instructor Onizuka: "...???"
They'd barely avoided the awkwardness of him giving the freshman address as representative, and now there was talk of commendation?!
Really couldn't escape this, could they?!