Chapter 49
Usuha Izuki opened the door and found Hagiwara Kenji.
Hagiwara Kenji looked him over and said with a smile: "Looks like you slept well."
"Yeah." Usuha Izuki pretended he knew nothing. "What about you?"
"I'm fine, just the instructor didn't sleep well."
Last night, because the Cult Leader's assistant had urgent business and called to find him but got no answer, he used the backup room card the Cult Leader had given him to enter the room, then discovered the Cult Leader was dead and quickly called the police.
Inspector Megure worked overtime in the middle of the night. When he arrived at the scene and figured out the deceased's identity, he was stunned.
Ah, this.
"Inspector Megure?" his subordinate asked in confusion. "Is there something wrong with the deceased?"
Inspector Megure's tone was stiff: "Uh... nothing, just feels a bit coincidental."
The subordinate nodded with understanding: "Right, we just arrested two believers from this cult last week, and now the Cult Leader is dead."
Inspector Megure: "..........."
No, that's not the kind of coincidence he meant!
He meant that the framed party from the last case, Samukawa Shinryu, had just asked him about this religion's situation not long ago, and now the Cult Leader was directly dead...
Theoretically speaking, this wasn't an incomprehensible coincidence, but thinking of Samukawa Shinryu, Inspector Megure always felt uneasy.
...It shouldn't be that serious, right? He was a Police Academy student after all... and this was too obvious! Who would ask the police for information about someone they wanted revenge on?
Those two neighbors who actually offended Samukawa Shinryu were fine!
Samukawa Shinryu looked very intelligent. If he wanted to cause trouble, he definitely wouldn't let people connect it to him. No, he was definitely overthinking.
Inspector Megure relied on reason and trust in Samukawa Shinryu's intelligence to finally convince himself.
But Instructor Onizuka's situation was more miserable.
He'd been sleeping well when he suddenly woke up. Hearing the sound of police sirens passing outside, he instinctively checked his phone for missed calls or emails.
Finding nothing, he breathed a long sigh of relief, thinking he probably still had psychological trauma and was being paranoid—yesterday Samukawa Shinryu hadn't left school, and nothing had happened, right?
Although in the first month of school, the first three weeks each had incidents, it was definitely all coincidence, didn't mean the fourth week would definitely have problems too!
It was the weekend—get a good night's sleep and don't overthink...
That's what he thought, but lying back in bed, Instructor Onizuka kept his eyes open, feeling anxious and unable to sleep at all. He simply got up and patrolled the student dormitory area.
He stood across from Samukawa Shinryu's dormitory, looking at the human silhouette cast by the light through the thin curtains, apparently quietly reading and occasionally turning pages. His originally inexplicably anxious heart also calmed down.
Good, the person was staying well in his dormitory, not attacked, and not appearing at any crime scenes!
Instructor Onizuka was about to return to his own dormitory feeling pleased when he received an email from an old colleague at the Metropolitan Police.
His heart immediately went cold. He looked at the vague silhouette across from him, then at the time... telling himself that since it wasn't a phone call but just an email, the problem probably wasn't serious. Samukawa Shinryu was right in front of him, so it shouldn't be related to Samukawa Shinryu.
Only then did he open the email.
This time, his old friend's message was indeed different from before. There was no sense that he had to get up and work immediately—it was just pure complaining.
[Your student was involved in the Happiness Truth Cult case last week, right? That cult's leader just died. Although it has nothing to do with your student, I really feel it would be safer if he didn't know about it...]
Instructor Onizuka: "..........."
He didn't sleep well all night.
He was very worried about what was going on with his student—why would people connect him to any random case?
Last week's case, Hagiwara Kenji had followed along and told him what happened when he returned. It really had little to do with Samukawa Shinryu—it was just that the criminals looked at Samukawa Shinryu and thought he didn't look like a good person, so they thought they could frame him directly... This was completely an innocent disaster.
This time was even more ridiculous. Just because he'd had contact with [Happiness Truth Cult] members a week ago, when the Cult Leader was killed, people directly thought of Samukawa Shinryu... What did this have to do with Samukawa Shinryu! He was just unlucky! He'd never even met that Cult Leader!
Would it get better once he officially became a police officer?
Instructor Onizuka was so worried that the next day he had huge dark circles under his eyes. Hagiwara Kenji was shocked when he saw them.
"Did something happen again?"
Instructor Onizuka: "...Can you tell me why your first reaction is to ask who had trouble?"
Hagiwara Kenji laughed dryly: "Well..."
Did he need to ask? Among all the people at the Police Academy, it had only been a month since school started—how many had encountered cases?
Instructor Onizuka sighed deeply: "Forget it. You're his friend, spend more time with him. If anyone says strange things, tell him not to mind them."
"...So something really did happen again?"
Instructor Onizuka rubbed his forehead: "The Happiness Truth Cult Leader died last night."
Hagiwara Kenji's expression immediately changed.
"You understand? Good thing that case didn't get a commendation, or new rumors would appear at school again."
Hagiwara Kenji nodded seriously.
Actually, Samukawa Shinryu's contribution to the case with the body in his apartment wasn't really at the level deserving commendation. After all, given some time to investigate, the police would have uncovered many of those clues. In such situations, it all depended on whether the school wanted to give commendations.
And the school definitely didn't want to give commendations, because they were busy dealing with agitated parents threatening to contact reporters. They really didn't have the mood for such things.
Instructor Onizuka also felt it was better for Samukawa Shinryu to keep a low profile, or his reputation might change from dangerous to plague god.
Hagiwara Kenji had felt a bit sorry for Samukawa Shinryu at the time, but now it seemed this was actually a good thing.
It's just that recalling when they were examining the [Happiness Truth Cult] materials, Samukawa Shinryu had said "deserves to die"...
Hagiwara Kenji couldn't help thinking, was Little Shinryu a bit of a jinx?
Now seeing the obviously well-rested Samukawa Shinryu, then thinking of the instructor he'd just met who was much balder than a month ago and sporting huge dark circles, Hagiwara Kenji felt genuine emotion.
"Good thing the Police Academy is only half a year, or the instructor might as well just shave his head bald."
Usuha Izuki's gaze flickered for a moment: "Middle-aged hair loss is normal... or did something happen again?"
Cough cough, he naturally knew that Instructor Onizuka's stress was all his doing, and the reputation damage was also his fault... but didn't he need suspicion values?
Hagiwara Kenji was his friend now, so he trusted him very much, occasionally giving normal amounts of suspicion values was fine, but he wouldn't deliberately do things to make his friend suspicious.
But the instructor...
Only five months left. The instructor should hang in there. Once he became a police officer and solved a few more cases, the instructor's reputation would come back!
Hagiwara Kenji didn't plan to hide it from Usuha Izuki anyway—it would be in today's news: "The Happiness Truth Cult Leader died. The instructor is relieved that you didn't get a commendation, or rumors would definitely spread outrageously. You had no contact with that religion anyway."
"Exactly." Usuha Izuki nodded, saying very calmly, "I never even met that Cult Leader."
Although he lied, pretended to negotiate with the person, tricked Vodka into thinking he was recruiting the Cult Leader, and helped with Morofushi Hiromitsu's sniping "guidance," he indeed had never met the Cult Leader.
Thanks to [Universal Navigation]'s help, he successfully completed the mission. Now Morofushi Hiromitsu, Vodka, Gin, and the Boss's suspicion values were scrolling non-stop. These people really didn't get tired!
The death of the Happiness Truth Cult Leader didn't create any ripples in Samukawa Shinryu's life. The police didn't even ask him for an alibi, didn't even call him—only Inspector Megure silently contributed some suspicion values.
Because Samukawa Shinryu truly had no conflict of interest with the Cult Leader, and this obviously wasn't a crime of passion but premeditated, they had to find the killer or person who hired the killer among those with motive.
Facts proved the Cult Leader's caution was justified—quite a few people wanted to kill him. The police investigation was currently chaotic. They hadn't found the real culprit but had uncovered a batch of suspects planning crimes...
Gin's side was also paying close attention to police progress, but seeing the case develop to this point, knowing it couldn't be traced to the organization, there was no need to continue monitoring.
He was now more interested in how Usuha Izuki had achieved that miraculous sniping.
The problem was that Usuha Izuki had gone missing again. Gin could only have the authorized Midorikawa return to live at his house, watching for when he might come home to notify him and Vodka immediately.
Somehow Furuya Rei had heard related news. Although no one had publicized it, he'd still heard the relevant information and found an opportunity to contact Morofushi Hiromitsu.
"I heard you shot and hit a target's head through glass and curtains from over a thousand meters away?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu wearily explained once more: "It had nothing to do with me, it was Botanist who did it..."
Furuya Rei listened like he was hearing a story and was very confused: "Did the organization invent some new high-tech?"
"Even Gin doesn't know, so it probably isn't. It's completely that Botanist has problems." Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't want to discuss this topic anymore. "Enough about me—how are things on your end?"
Furuya Rei's tone became serious: "I investigated the Police Academy situation."
"...Mm." Morofushi Hiromitsu was slightly nervous. "Hagiwara, is he really..."
"He violated regulations at a bomb disposal scene by taking off his protective suit and almost had an accident, so his superior gave him a harsh lecture."
Morofushi Hiromitsu was confused: "What does this have to do with him becoming an Assistant Instructor at the Police Academy?"
"Listen to me continue. At the time, the bomb almost detonated, but someone passing by caught the bomber, so Hagiwara was fine. That person is now a student in this term's Police Academy—"
Furuya Rei recalled the photo from the materials and frowned deeply.
"That person is called Samukawa Shinryu. He should be the one you saw walking with Hagiwara. He does feel very similar to Gin, but he's actually a Police Academy student who saved Hagiwara, so it's normal for them to have a good relationship."
"I see..." Morofushi Hiromitsu relaxed a bit. "Samukawa Shinryu... what did he do before? He doesn't feel like an ordinary person."
Furuya Rei said quietly: "Orphanage background, grew up in a small town, then got into university in Hakata."
Thinking of that Hakata full of hitmen, Morofushi Hiromitsu fell silent.
"But since he was admitted, that means no criminal record was found. Maybe he's just an ordinary person who developed a strange aura from surviving in Hakata full of hitmen... Plus he didn't just catch the bomber—he also discovered a bomb in a park and promptly reported it to Matsuda. When he encountered drug dealers, he cooperated with the squad leader to get them arrested..."
Hearing these familiar names, Morofushi Hiromitsu sighed: "Since he has good relationships with Squad Leader and the others, I can feel at ease."
Even if Hagiwara misjudged, there were so many others keeping watch. Surely not everyone would misjudge? His aura was so obviously dangerous that even the most insensitive person would be on guard!
Under these circumstances, if he could still become friends with Squad Leader and the others, he must have good qualities that outsiders didn't know about.
Morofushi Hiromitsu also didn't suspect that all the people he knew were acquaintances—whether this was targeting them. After all, making friends was like this—integrating into others' friend circles naturally meant knowing everyone.
For undercover agents like them, these friends had already become people they couldn't easily contact. There was no need to control-freak style audit each friend one by one.
Due to information lag, the materials Furuya Rei obtained didn't mention anything about the Happiness Truth Cult. Just these cases alone, at first glance, really looked like things a police officer full of justice would do.
It was just that thinking of the other's very Gin-like aura made Furuya Rei feel uncomfortable all over, like ants crawling on him.
The paranoid Furuya Rei said: "The problem is, although there's no criminal record, his background is really too easy to fake..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu was silent for a moment: "I understand what you're worried about, but would anyone send such a conspicuous person to be an undercover agent in the police? Starting from the Police Academy without connections, slowly climbing up—how many years would it take to reach a level useful to the organization?"
Before knowing that person was a Police Academy student, Morofushi Hiromitsu had indeed been very suspicious of his purpose in contacting Hagiwara Kenji. Now discovering he was a Police Academy student, many speculations became unnecessary.
Given Japan's seniority-based promotion system, if the organization really wanted to plant undercover agents starting from the Police Academy, they wouldn't choose a background-less orphan for the non-career track. At minimum, they'd choose the career track for a higher starting point.
This wasn't as convenient as directly bribing high officials or finding leverage on them.
"Besides, can you imagine the organization sending Gin to be an undercover agent in the police?"
Furuya Rei: "..........."
—That indeed was impossible. If it really happened, it would make people question whether Usuha Izuki was using the Boss's phone to go crazy.
Actually, Furuya Rei understood these principles too. It's just that thinking of Usuha Izuki saying the organization had undercover agents everywhere made him very uncomfortable: "Right, Usuha indeed didn't say there were undercover agents at the Police Academy, only mentioned the Metropolitan Police and National Police Agency. That means our identities are very dangerous and could be exposed to the organization at any time..."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...Is it possible he was just talking randomly? Because I only recently learned that Usuha actually doesn't understand the organization very well."
Furuya Rei: "...???"
Morofushi Hiromitsu sighed: "Because he's actually the organization's second generation. The organization let him slack off like this to stabilize his dead adoptive father's power. He fools around all day... I even suspect that even if he could replicate that miraculous sniping and surpass Gin's status in the organization, he still wouldn't know much..."
"Why?" Furuya Rei instinctively asked.
Morofushi Hiromitsu's tone was heavy: "They're probably afraid he'll suddenly go crazy. He came back from Middle Eastern battlefields and might not fear death—just looking for fun."
Furuya Rei: "..........."
—Too convincing!!!
Thinking about it this way, Usuha Izuki's value suddenly dropped, because he was a psychopath the organization couldn't trust. Any Boss with brains absolutely wouldn't let him know secrets...
At this moment, Morofushi Hiromitsu suddenly said: "But there's one good thing about partnering with Usuha—when missions fail, everyone thinks it's Usuha's problem. When missions succeed, everyone thinks I performed well... Plus thanks to him, my contact with Gin has increased."
Furuya Rei: "...My improved relationship with Vodka also depends on Usuha."
Both fell silent.
Furuya Rei decided to retract his earlier assessment—the organization couldn't do without Usuha Izuki!!!
While chatting, Morofushi Hiromitsu suddenly received an email from Usuha Izuki.
He immediately perked up.
You have to know, since that sniping, Usuha Izuki had been missing for another week. He'd also been unemployed for a week, receiving no missions. Now his only task was to stay at Usuha Izuki's house and report immediately when he came home.
Morofushi Hiromitsu hurriedly hung up and checked the email content.
Usuha Izuki was asking where he was.
...Anyway, he wasn't at his house. Even if no problems were discovered, Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't dare call Zero from Usuha Izuki's house.
Even Organization safe houses didn't make him this worried!
Morofushi Hiromitsu dialed Usuha Izuki's number: "Sorry, I just went out to buy groceries. Are you home now?"
"Yeah, I see your stuff is still here... Are you planning to live here permanently? Did the organization really assign you as my assistant?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu said insincerely: "If you're looking forward to it that much, I could discuss it with the organization again. But actually I'm just staying here waiting for you to return. Gin has business with you."
"Ugh—I hate Gin."
Morofushi Hiromitsu paused.
Should he take a stance now, pick a side? Say I'm on your side? But how would he explain to Gin's side...
Then he heard Usuha Izuki say: "Don't buy groceries, come back. We'll eat out tonight. Handle Gin's business first... Oh, don't call Gin yet. Come back first."
Morofushi Hiromitsu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, as long as Usuha Izuki didn't prohibit him from contacting Gin, he'd consider half his mission complete.
Morofushi Hiromitsu hadn't left Usuha Izuki's house far anyway, so he quickly returned.
Walking into the living room, he saw Usuha Izuki holding the skeleton like a pillow, lounging on the sofa. Seeing him, Usuha raised the skeleton's hand and waved at him.
"You're back~"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "..........."
If the skeleton was replaced with a cat, this scene might be more heartwarming. Right now he just felt a bit cold.
Morofushi Hiromitsu didn't want to respond with "I'm back."
He couldn't say it—felt like he'd be defiling something. So he skipped this and forced another topic: "Should I call Gin now?"
"No." Usuha Izuki sat up straighter, his light green eyes full of reproach. "I already said I hate Gin! As my friend, how can you call Gin?"
"...Then how do you plan to handle that side?"
Usuha Izuki pointed at him with the skeleton's hand: "You call Vodka."
Morofushi Hiromitsu: "...?"
Vodka was on a mission with Gin. Calling Vodka was equivalent to Gin knowing too... So this was really just purely not wanting to talk to Gin?!
Morofushi Hiromitsu was a bit speechless but still obediently dialed Vodka's number.
Usuha Izuki happily scooted over and made room on the sofa: "Standing is tiring. Sit down! Don't be polite! Look how clean the sofa is!"
Morofushi Hiromitsu: ".................."
Of course it was clean—he'd wiped it before going out!!!
Very reluctantly sitting beside Usuha Izuki, Morofushi Hiromitsu wanted to maintain distance, but Usuha Izuki shamelessly leaned over to listen to the phone.
After waiting a bit longer than usual, the call went through.
Vodka's voice came from the phone: "Midorikawa, I'm a bit busy right now. If you want to complain about Botanist..."
Usuha Izuki's tone was eerie: "Do you often secretly badmouth me behind my back?"
Vodka: "...!!!"
Oh my god! Haunted again!! He'd never dare answer calls carelessly again!!
Why didn't Usuha Izuki have his own phone?! Why was he always using other people's phones?!
Morofushi Hiromitsu hadn't expected Vodka to immediately expose himself and couldn't help showing an awkward but polite smile: "I only occasionally call to ask if he can give me a different assignment."
Maybe because the topic had been too monotonous recently, Vodka assumed it was about this when he saw his call.
"What about Vodka?"
Usuha Izuki pressed relentlessly: "What did he say about me?"
Morofushi Hiromitsu fell silent.
He didn't want to be kicked out of Vodka's little circle that badmouthed Usuha Izuki for being a traitor.
Vodka's mind worked quickly. Calling Usuha Izuki a little psychopath or lunatic was obviously unspeakable, so he quickly deflected: "I just said you're always disappearing and don't follow organization arrangements... What, wasn't I telling the truth?"
"Fine." Usuha Izuki felt guilty. "Who told Gin to say those things last time? I didn't block you along with him, which was already nice of me. Is Gin beside you?"
Vodka looked at Gin next to him, hesitating how to answer.
"Even if he is, it doesn't matter. Tell him he's no longer my friend." Usuha Izuki huffed angrily. "I don't want to talk to him anymore. If there are any problems, have you talk to me instead."
Gin: "..........."
Vodka: "...Are you going to school? Did you learn bad habits from high school girls? Normal people don't fight like this."
"Who says? I've seen elementary school kids fight like this."
Vodka: "???" You still have the nerve to say that!
Usuha Izuki sighed sentimentally: "I never went to elementary school in the Middle East. I want to experience an ordinary person's life from the beginning..."
"Please hurry up and progress to college level, at least high school level, or I can't communicate with you." Vodka complained.
Gin gave Vodka a cold look.
Vodka suddenly snapped back to reality, realizing the topic had been derailed again. Worried that Usuha Izuki might hang up with the excuse "if you can't communicate with me then forget it," he quickly got to the point.
To avoid stepping on landmines, he'd specifically written a script.
"Cough cough, let's not talk about that... Botanist, I think when people have talent, they should know how to use it instead of wasting it. I really think your sniping last time was very... very..."
Vodka steeled himself and read from his script: "Very impressive. Too bad I wasn't there to partner with you... ugh... cough, could you, for the sake of your friend me, demonstrate once more?"
Both Morofushi Hiromitsu and Gin fell silent.
Was this adapted from some template? So stiff!!!
But Vodka felt his reasoning was sound: Usuha Izuki was a returnee, so the subtle version might not get through to him. Being more direct might work better.
Before Gin decided to snatch the phone and do it himself, Usuha Izuki spoke with emotion.
"So you admire me this much... I had no idea! I thought you were like Gin, thinking I was cheating!"
Vodka laughed dryly: "How could there be cheating in this kind of thing..."
"Exactly! No cheats means I opened one, right?!"
Vodka: "...???"
Usuha Izuki sighed deeply: "Actually, I don't usually make a move, but if it's for you, it's not impossible... But I don't take just any mission. Organization competitors are fine, but not good people."
Gin's gaze sharpened.
Morofushi Hiromitsu was also stunned.
...How could someone directly tell the organization they wouldn't kill good people? Did this mean he was turning traitor?