Chapter 64
After receiving Usuha Izuki's call, Hagiwara Kenji heard he was asked to come to the Metropolitan Police. Without thinking much, assuming it was the same situation as before, he didn't even ask many questions and very naturally stood up.
"Alright, no problem. Metropolitan Police, right? I happen to be free, I'll head over right now."
Instructor Onizuka's head, which was clearly more bald than at the start of school, also lifted: "Samukawa again?"
"Yes." Hagiwara Kenji organized the materials in his hands. "I'll finish these when I get back. The internship isn't until next week anyway."
"The day after tomorrow is Monday." Instructor Onizuka reminded him, then asked very calmly, "What has Samukawa done now?"
Hagiwara Kenji was also calm: "Don't know, but Jinpei is there too, so it should be fine."
Instructor Onizuka sighed: "That's good. Compared to when school started, the frequency of him encountering incidents when going out has decreased a lot."
Yes, after several months, the instructor and Assistant Instructor of Onizuka Class had become numb to Samukawa Shinryu's accident-prone constitution.
Especially compared to the dense frequency of the first month of school, now having an incident only every two or three weeks was quite comforting.
Hagiwara Kenji tidied up his desk and hurriedly left the Police Academy, heading toward Metropolitan Police.
Having worked at Metropolitan Police when he was in Explosive Ordnance Disposal, he greeted people he knew along the way and even met the supervisor who had been constantly advising him to reconsider whether to stay in Explosive Ordnance Disposal.
The supervisor asked: "How are things at the Police Academy?"
"Not bad." Hagiwara Kenji said with emotion, "My students will start internships next week. Time really flies..."
"What about you?" the supervisor asked. "After this batch graduates, what are your plans? You said you went to the Police Academy to find your original intentions—don't get too comfortable there and refuse to come back. That would be too wasteful for someone like you. Even if you don't return to Explosive Ordnance Disposal, other departments would be good too. The Police Academy is just for retirement..."
Hagiwara Kenji was silent for a moment: "It's actually not very comfortable..."
Perhaps thinking of some rumors about Onizuka Class, the supervisor also fell silent: "...As long as you know what you're doing. But I think leaving Explosive Ordnance Disposal for Criminal Investigation would actually better utilize your strengths."
Hagiwara Kenji smiled: "I'll consider it."
After saying goodbye to the supervisor, Hagiwara Kenji followed the directions given and went to find Matsuda Jinpei and Usuha Izuki.
Matsuda Jinpei wasn't in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal office but had borrowed a room used for taking statements.
When Hagiwara Kenji knocked and entered, Usuha Izuki was borrowing Metropolitan Police newspapers to pass time, while Matsuda Jinpei was holding his phone in one hand and supporting his face with the other, sitting sideways in his chair with his legs crossed, looking somewhat fierce and in a terrible mood.
"I'm not late, am I?" Hagiwara Kenji smiled to ease the atmosphere. "What has Little Shinryu encountered this time?"
Usuha Izuki wanted to speak but was interrupted by Matsuda Jinpei.
"Don't talk yet—Hagi!" Matsuda Jinpei said aggressively, "This guy actually went and defused a bomb today! By the time I arrived, he had already finished!"
Hagiwara Kenji's smile froze on his face as he looked at Usuha Izuki in disbelief: "You..."
How could you do something so dangerous?!
Matsuda Jinpei wasn't finished complaining: "He said you taught him. How did you teach him? Didn't you explain the precautions properly?"
As he spoke, Matsuda Jinpei gritted his teeth: "This time he was lucky, but what if it was like last time, with the perpetrator remotely restarting..."
Obviously, Matsuda Jinpei had been scared by Usuha Izuki this time and was reminded of the psychological trauma Hagiwara Kenji had left him, making him angrier the more he thought about it.
Matsuda Jinpei had already lectured Usuha Izuki earlier, but since their relationship wasn't particularly close—they'd known each other for a year but hadn't met many times, and could only be called friends but rarely spent time alone together—it was a bit awkward, so he couldn't say too much. The anger had been building up inside.
Now seeing Hagiwara Kenji, his anger finally had an outlet, and he thoroughly scolded both of them.
Hagiwara Kenji's expression was still somewhat confused.
He'd just arrived and been saddled with a black mark that wasn't his, plus getting a head-to-toe scolding from his childhood friend about old grievances.
When had he taught Little Shinryu bomb defusal?! And his near-death by explosion was a year ago—hadn't it already been discussed and settled? Why bring it up for another scolding?
Wasn't he being implicated by Little Shinryu?
Hagiwara Kenji gave Usuha Izuki a look that said "I'll take the blame for now, but you better explain properly when we get back."
Matsuda Jinpei noticed his subtle gesture and got even angrier: "What, think I'm wrong? You as a teacher didn't set a good example, and Samukawa learned from you! If I don't say something now, what if he pulls this again next time?!"
Hagiwara Kenji was dazed.
Having been an Assistant Instructor for half a year, now watching little Jinpei seemed more like a teacher than him...
Usuha Izuki and Hagiwara Kenji both got thoroughly scolded until someone came looking for Matsuda Jinpei, and he finally shut up.
Once Matsuda Jinpei left, Hagiwara Kenji let out a long breath: "My god, Little Shinryu, why didn't you give me a heads up so I could be mentally prepared?"
Only then did Usuha Izuki speak his first words since Hagiwara Kenji entered: "...I didn't expect his reaction to be so strong either."
Hagiwara Kenji thought for a second and felt little Jinpei was indeed still bothered by his near-death from explosion last time, so encountering similar situations triggered his psychological trauma. In a way, he might have implicated Little Shinryu too... mutual implication, roughly even.
Regardless, knowing Matsuda Jinpei only appeared fine but actually had psychological triggers when encountering similar situations, Hagiwara Kenji was completely determined—he really should go to Criminal Investigation.
Otherwise, little Jinpei would have to constantly worry about him while working alone, which was too exhausting. Before, everyone had been carefree and trusted each other completely...
But while the mutual implication was settled, other things weren't.
"I taught you bomb defusal, hm?" Hagiwara Kenji's smile was very gentle. "Taking initiative to defuse bombs before graduation, are you?"
"...Let me explain."
Hagiwara Kenji snorted: "Fine, explain properly when we get back."
Taking him back to Police Academy and bringing him to his Assistant Instructor dormitory, Hagiwara Kenji sat down and had Usuha Izuki stand in front of him, simulating a teacher calling a student to the office scenario, wanting to give Usuha Izuki some pressure.
"Speak. No one else can hear here. What exactly happened?"
When Usuha Izuki had pulled Hagiwara Kenji out to take the blame, he'd already prepared to explain. He just hadn't expected Matsuda Jinpei to scold Hagiwara Kenji so harshly too, making him feel guilty and cooperative.
"The situation was quite urgent." Usuha Izuki said. "The countdown was going too fast. I happened to be there—I couldn't just watch it explode."
Hagiwara Kenji was very worried: "That was too dangerous. If there was enough time to evacuate, you should have evacuated with everyone else. The mall has insurance—if it gets bombed, it's fine, but you only have one life."
Good thing this time he saw a lively Usuha Izuki before learning about it. Otherwise, if he'd known this guy was defusing bombs midway through, he didn't know what his emotional state would have been.
Usuha Izuki nodded: "This time there wasn't enough time to evacuate."
Hagiwara Kenji could only advise: "If you make an error, the countdown might become even shorter. Don't touch things randomly without confidence."
As police officers, they couldn't say "don't worry about how many people die, just keep yourself alive." If he'd been present, he wouldn't have been able to watch a bomb explode knowing he might be able to defuse it.
Usuha Izuki answered: "I was confident."
"...Very good." Hagiwara Kenji tapped the table. "Since you put it that way, let me ask you—where did you learn bomb defusal?!"
Hagiwara Kenji suspected this guy's bomb defusal learning method probably wasn't normal.
Usuha Izuki looked at Hagiwara Kenji, who was contributing suspicion values like crazy, and coughed lightly: "It's a method I can't tell you about... Thank you for helping me cover."
Hagiwara Kenji painfully held his forehead.
Ever since a few months ago when Little Shinryu confessed to him about having contact with some seemingly far-reaching illegal organization, he'd been constantly worried.
It was just that later, Little Shinryu encountered much fewer troublesome situations, so he gradually relaxed his vigilance, thinking that Organization might have given up recruiting Little Shinryu.
But this Little Shinryu guy had quietly learned even bomb defusal! It was definitely taught by that organization! What did they want Little Shinryu to do?!
And Hagiwara Kenji didn't believe that Organization only taught bomb defusal—bomb disposal masters were all bomb-making masters, and vice versa.
What did criminal organizations need bomb defusal for? They definitely taught bomb-making, and Little Shinryu figured out defusal by reverse engineering!
After teaching bomb-making, next would they threaten and coerce Little Shinryu to install bombs in strange places, sabotage important meetings, or assassinate people?!
Originally, because he didn't want Little Shinryu to worry about him knowing too much and getting silenced, he hadn't dared ask more. But this time he really couldn't let it go!
Hagiwara Kenji took a deep breath: "That organization is still in contact with you? You've already agreed? What are they threatening you with?"
"Don't worry." Usuha Izuki comforted him. "So far, as long as I don't want to do something, they can't force me. Learning more things isn't necessarily bad."
"But once you learn, they have leverage over you." Hagiwara Kenji pressed his temples. "Besides learning these things from illegal organizations, what else haven't you told me?"
Usuha Izuki answered honestly: "A lot."
Hagiwara Kenji: "............"
"Kenji, don't investigate further. I'll worry about you if you do." Usuha Izuki said. "But I can tell you that so far, I haven't done anything against my heart or principles."
Hagiwara Kenji looked at him with complex emotions.
After a long while, he slowly spoke: "...I'll be watching you."
"Mm."
"I don't want to doubt you. I just want to protect you."
"...Actually, you could doubt me more. I'm not as good as you think."
Hagiwara Kenji said irritably: "I don't have that much free time to constantly doubt my friends. If you're worried about disappointing me, why not become like a good kid before I find out—stop testing me in the future, or next time you can explain to little Jinpei yourself! I won't take the blame for you anymore! You can't keep saying I taught you whenever you encounter work problems!"
Usuha Izuki: "...Okay."
Hagiwara Kenji, who had experienced the destructive power of problem children before even getting married, pressed his temples and pulled a book from his bookshelf: "Though I don't want you doing dangerous things, half-knowledge is more dangerous... Come on, let me check what your bomb defusal skills are actually like."