Chapter 82
Usuha Izuki first introduced to Hagiwara Kenji: "My colleague from the Mobile Investigation Unit, Kokonoe Yoto."
Then he introduced to Kokonoe Yoto: "My friend, Hagiwara Kenji."
The distinction between close and distant relationships was clear.
However, Kokonoe Yoto hadn't originally thought of himself as his friend either. He was just somewhat shocked that someone could call Samukawa Shinryu like that—calling him by name alone was one thing, but adding such a cute suffix made it sound like calling a girl named "Shizuka"!
Hagiwara Kenji extended his hand to Kokonoe Yoto: "Hello, thank you for taking care of Little Shinryu at the Mobile Investigation Unit."
Though rich kid Kokonoe Yoto had some Young Master temperament, he was also a straightforward person: "I haven't taken care of him in any way. Are you also a police officer?"
Wow, such an impolite way of asking—has no one ever told him about this?
Hagiwara Kenji made some guesses about Kokonoe Yoto's background: "Yes, I was previously with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, now at the Police Academy. I'll be transferred to Criminal Investigation Division One soon."
"I see." Kokonoe Yoto gained initial recognition for Hagiwara Kenji, who would soon become a detective in Division One.
Usuha Izuki asked coldly: "This isn't a place where a Young Master should live. What are you doing here?"
Having an acquaintance near his home who knew whether he came home after work could contribute suspicion values, but thinking about it carefully was still somewhat annoying.
"Don't call me Young Master. My previous apartment had electrical equipment catch fire and burn the walls—it needs renovation." Kokonoe Yoto said. "This is a friend's house that he's temporarily not using. I'm staying here temporarily until my apartment is fixed."
Usuha Izuki was too lazy to ask why he didn't go home, figuring he was probably feuding with his father who forcibly stuffed him into the Mobile Investigation Unit.
Although he was younger than these people, he understood how strong the rebellious hearts of people just entering society could be.
"It's not just that. There were clearly many other choices—why choose here?" Usuha Izuki keenly detected Kokonoe Yoto's concealment and asked with some intimidation.
Using Samukawa Shinryu's shell for this kind of threatening behavior was extremely effective.
Kokonoe Yoto seemed somewhat frightened and leaned back slightly, then quickly adjusted, showing a somewhat embarrassed expression. His gaze unconsciously glanced toward Hagiwara Kenji, seemingly hesitating whether to speak in front of an outsider.
System: [Could it be that he admires you and came to chase after his idol?]
[Impossible, but it really is too coincidental, so I must ask clearly.]
Usuha Izuki took out his phone: "Can you report stalkers to the police too..."
"I'm not a stalker!" Kokonoe Yoto quickly explained.
Hagiwara Kenji said helplessly: "Little Shinryu, don't joke around at times like this..."
Kokonoe Yoto was somewhat shocked that Samukawa Shinryu would actually joke, unsure whether this was really a joke or if he actually thought so. Anyway, not wanting to continue being misunderstood, he simply stepped aside and invited: "It's a long story. Please come in, both of you."
Cleaning the house wasn't urgent, and Usuha Izuki didn't think it was a waste of time. He was quite curious, so he went in with Hagiwara Kenji.
Although there was still a box of things outside the door, Kokonoe Yoto had probably moved in yesterday. Inside was already organized perfectly, even able to serve tea to guests—to put it bluntly, this house that had just been moved into for one day had more human warmth than the neighboring Samukawa Shinryu's house.
The group took their seats, tea was served, and Kokonoe Yoto wore an expression of internal struggle for quite a while before finally figuring out how to begin.
"The apartment fire is real, and the renovation is real, but choosing here... there is indeed another reason."
Usuha Izuki looked coldly indifferent, appearing not to care. Instead, it was Hagiwara Kenji, who had nothing to do with Kokonoe Yoto and was meeting him for the first time today, who appropriately showed an expression of serious listening, allowing Kokonoe Yoto to barely feel at ease enough to continue.
"It's about a case I handled before... regarding a group of students making prank police calls."
Hagiwara Kenji knew about this case: "Ah, I think it was about someone in a school's track team dealing drugs, causing the track team to be disbanded by the school, then energetic students with nowhere to vent started making false police reports to race with police, right? It seems their real identities were exposed at the time. Normally information about minors in such cases should be kept secret."
Kokonoe Yoto nodded: "Right, that case. Several students have already been caught, but the one I was responsible for... got away."
As he spoke, he pointed toward his window: "From this window, you can see that child's home... Because of the exposure, recently there seem to be people frequently coming to splash paint and write insulting words on the door."
Usuha Izuki was indifferent: "This case has nothing to do with you anymore. The Mobile Investigation Unit only has 24 hours of work time. Even if that person hasn't been caught yet, it should be the local police station's responsibility now, right? You specifically moving here is meaningless. He won't necessarily come home, and you can't stop people from vandalizing every time. If the person involved sees you, it might even alert him."
"I know. My partner told me the same thing, but... have you heard of Rube Goldberg machines? Also called Pythagorean devices."
Because of Matsuda Jinpei, Hagiwara Kenji actually knew about such interesting mechanical devices: "Those chain reaction contraptions made of a bunch of components, right?"
"Right. From the starting point, you drop a small steel ball. The path it takes isn't straight—it encounters obstacles. Sometimes it avoids one but gets pushed into other tracks by another... Before you know it, it's gone down the path of crime. Tracing back, you'll find that maybe at some switch point it already went wrong, and there was no way to recover after that." (Note)
Hagiwara Kenji understood what Kokonoe Yoto wanted to say: "You're saying that for that child, you're one of those switches?"
"Maybe he's also my switch." Kokonoe Yoto said. "Officer Shima said, 'What people you meet, what people you don't meet, what switches can change a person's life—no one knows until it happens'... Ever since I failed to bring him back, I've been thinking, what if it wasn't me who was responsible for pursuing him at that time? What if he had been properly brought back... Until I find that child, I won't be able to rest easy for a single day. I might not even be able to focus on other work." (Note)
"So heavy, too heavy!" Hagiwara Kenji was shocked. "Messing up one thing and making yourself like this—what will you do in the future?"
Kokonoe Yoto was startled, then smiled: "You said the same thing as my partner. Samukawa-kun is so fortunate to have a friend like you."
Usuha Izuki interrupted him: "Is there any other reason? Moving here doesn't necessarily mean you'll find him."
Kokonoe Yoto answered honestly: "After my apartment needed renovation, I was looking for a temporary place to stay. Several friends have houses and said I could borrow them. I saw this address looked familiar, remembered that I seemed to have seen this address when investigating a case that Samukawa-kun was involved in before, and it happened to be near that child's home..."
Usuha Izuki: "............"
Isn't this exactly a stalker?!
Hagiwara Kenji couldn't smile anymore either: "Why would you investigate Little Shinryu for no reason?"
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I just mentioned in conversation that I heard Samukawa-kun had solved cases even when he was still at the Police Academy, and someone directly pulled out the files to show me." Kokonoe Yoto looked completely innocent.
Hagiwara Kenji was expressionless: "Little Shinryu, who exactly is this person?"
"Son of the Director of the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the National Police Agency."
"I see, no wonder the surname sounded familiar."
Kokonoe Yoto urgently explained: "I don't like being treated specially because of my father! Anyway, from the files, I discovered that incidents seem to happen easily around Samukawa-kun, and he also easily discovers criminals..."
At this point, he became somewhat hesitant.
"Then, a detective I know told me a rumor... He said that following behind Samukawa-kun, you could get achievements delivered to your door in half a day. For cases where the culprit couldn't be found, taking Samukawa-kun to places where the criminal might appear for a walk might solve the case... Isn't this quite close to that child's home? I couldn't help wanting to try... Please, Samukawa-kun, if you discover this child called Narikawa Gaku, please be sure to tell me!"
Saying this, the Young Master stepped back, holding a photograph with both hands, maintaining a kneeling posture as he bowed deeply and offered it to Usuha Izuki.
Usuha Izuki: "............"
Hagiwara Kenji: "............"
—How could there be such a strange rumor?!
After finishing their conversation with Kokonoe Yoto, the two went out, turned left, and entered Samukawa Shinryu's home.
Only then did Hagiwara Kenji dare to complain: "He's even willing to try such rumors—he really cares about that student he failed to catch... But it makes sense. With drug dealing involved, if the kid has nowhere to go after running away from home and ends up mixing with those people, his future would be ruined. It's understandable that he's anxious—being even a day late might..."
Actually, if not for the apartment incident, Kokonoe Yoto might not have believed such rumors. This time, everything just happened to align so perfectly, giving a feeling of destiny, so he thought trying wouldn't hurt—and somehow, when he saw Samukawa Shinryu, he felt that if it was Samukawa Shinryu, he could definitely accomplish anything.
Maybe he had other channels that normal police officers weren't quite suitable to contact... Kokonoe Yoto also had such impolite speculation.
Usuha Izuki wasn't very interested in this case or the strange rumors. He was more focused on another point.
Anyway, as long as he found the Narikawa Gaku that Kokonoe Yoto wanted to find, Kokonoe Yoto could move away earlier, right?
The damage to Kokonoe Yoto's original apartment should take about a week to fix, so after tomorrow's Mobile Investigation Unit shift, he'd use [Universal Navigation] to find that person...
Usuha Izuki didn't speak, and Hagiwara Kenji didn't mind. After muttering to himself for a while, he suddenly remembered something.
"Speaking of switches, I feel like Little Shinryu is the switch of my life."
Hagiwara Kenji said with a smile: "If not for Little Shinryu, I'd probably be dead by now. Hmm, then Little Jinpei should also be my switch, then my parents... Little Shinryu, have you encountered any 'switches'?"
Usuha Izuki was startled.
Switches that change one's life...
"...Yes."
Thinking about it now, if he hadn't met that person in his previous life, even if he had died, it couldn't have been from acting heroically.
Usuha Izuki opened the system shop and looked at the points needed for [Permanent Residence Rights] and [Revival Card].
Hmm... Deducting the points needed to be exchanged daily for survival until the target date, he was still far short. Indeed, he should use them sparingly. Things like body double puppets—expensive and useless—don't think about tricking him into spending money!
Hagiwara Kenji saw Samukawa Shinryu's expression was cold, his gaze somewhat vacant, as if he was spacing out, so he didn't continue asking "Do I count as your switch?"
After all, it seemed like Little Shinryu was thinking of something unpleasant... Switches could be good or bad. That guy who said he was more suited for crime when Little Shinryu was small—because of that comment, Little Shinryu even came to be a police officer. Who knows if that counts as a good switch or a bad switch.
Not wanting to disturb him, Hagiwara Kenji familiarly went to get cleaning supplies, then reached out to feel the dust on the bedroom nightstand.
...At least a month since he'd been back. What exactly was Little Shinryu doing outside?
Whether to thoroughly ask clearly, whether to continue choosing to trust Little Shinryu... this was also a switch, wasn't it?
What results different choices would bring to life—until the moment it happened, he had no way of knowing either.