Chapter 151
Rum immediately called Usuha Izuki, wanting a quick resolution to prevent this troublesome matter from affecting him longer, but the call was hung up shortly after he dialed.
Rum: "..........."
This was bad, things seemed to have gotten serious—Usuha Izuki clearly had major grievances against him!
He had no idea how Usuha Izuki would retaliate against him... the key point was this not knowing!
Rum, who had originally been more annoyed than anything else, felt his unease increase considerably. He silently counted to ten and called again.
If this call didn't go through either, he'd have Amuro Toru try calling to see if it was just targeting him specifically.
Rum's suspicion value skyrocketed.
Fortunately, the call connected this time.
"Who is it, calling back and forth like this, so annoying." Usuha Izuki said impatiently.
Rum breathed a sigh of relief: "It's me."
"Who's 'me'?"
"...I'm Rum, didn't you save my number?"
"Hm? Oh, Rum." Usuha Izuki naturally glossed over the latter question, "What do you want?"
Rum: "......"
They'd clearly spoken on the phone before, so did this guy simply not save his number, or did he casually delete him as someone unimportant... that couldn't be right! He was the organization's second-in-command!!! Did he plan to ask someone else for his contact information every time he needed to reach him in the future!?
And what was with the act! Hadn't he just complained to Amuro Toru about not getting paid! Now he was asking why he'd called—how could someone be so hypocritical!
Regardless of his inner complaints, when dealing with someone he'd rather not offend if possible, Rum's emotional intelligence was decent enough—he'd rather offend Gin than Usuha Izuki. As long as there was no evidence proving his betrayal and the Boss supported him, no matter how much he offended Gin, Gin wouldn't touch him. But if he offended Usuha Izuki, he might never have peaceful days again. Just look at what happened to Vodka and Gin last year... even the Boss! They were all tortured to no end!
Thinking of this, Rum felt deeply apprehensive. He absolutely refused to mention that he'd forgotten about Usuha Izuki, pretending everything was special treatment out of respect for him: "It's like this—you helped Amuro Toru before, right? That mission is now complete, and I should pay you compensation, but I don't know your bank account number."
Actually, he could find out if he wanted to—after all, for regular salary payments, payroll account numbers were registered with finance, but he needed to save face.
Usuha Izuki completely changed from his usual arrogant and domineering attitude, speaking very politely and modestly: "Oh no, I didn't help much at all, you don't need to pay me."
Rum became alert—this was definitely sarcasm! If he agreed to this, that would be the end!
"That won't do. I heard Amuro Toru praise you, saying you helped him a lot. For an executive to be willing to do such trivial little tasks, I must thank you for supporting my work regardless."
Being someone from the intelligence division, he'd naturally heard about Usuha Izuki's hobby of insisting he was an ordinary person. Rum himself also enjoyed cosplay, trying out various professions, so this kind of workplace small-talk came naturally to him, displaying his full skill.
If you threw the current Rum into any office worker group chat, he wouldn't seem out of place at all!
Usuha Izuki continued being polite: "Oh my, we're all colleagues, it was just a small favor, no need to thank me."
You're still acting!!!
Rum and Usuha Izuki went back and forth for two more rounds before finally managing to send the money.
Usuha Izuki's tone was very reluctant: "Sigh, why are you so stubborn? But since that's the case, I'll reluctantly accept it."
"...Mm."
Rum felt inexplicably exhausted—this was the first time he'd found it so difficult to force money on someone.
But thinking about what Vodka had once complained about, Rum felt his situation wasn't that bad... The Boss had been slightly displeased with him recently, so he couldn't let Usuha Izuki say anything inappropriate at this time.
Feeling that Usuha Izuki might be satisfied now, Rum politely took his leave, waiting for Usuha Izuki to hang up before ending the call himself.
Ever since he started dealing with Usuha Izuki, his good days had become intermittent.
When would the Middle East smuggling lines finally break free from Arak Wine's influence and operate independently!?
It had been over a year, almost two years! A bunch of useless people!
Usuha Izuki had toyed with Rum, bringing him a pile of dissatisfaction, while feeling quite pleased as he headed out.
The system summarized for him: [Rum gave quite a lot of suspicion value.]
Usuha Izuki turned it around: [As expected, people in the intelligence division have dirty hearts! Who knows what they're usually thinking! Unlike me—I'm without guile, sincere to everyone.]
System: [...If you're so sincere, then write your report first.]
[...Sigh.]
System: [...]
What was the meaning of that sigh?
At the Metropolitan Police's Criminal Investigation Division One, many detectives responsible for the "Strawberry Night" case had worked overtime until this point, resting by just lying on their desks for a while, reaching the point where "without going home, there's no coming to work"—everyone's sense of time had become blurred.
Therefore, when Hagiwara Kenji finished his work and looked up at the time, he was stunned and asked someone nearby: "Little Shinryu hasn't come in yet?"
The person he asked had bloodshot eyes from staying up all night: "I haven't seen him... probably hasn't come..."
Hagiwara Kenji also thought that if Samukawa Shinryu had come in, he should have at least greeted him, but it was almost noon now—normal work hours had long passed. Not coming in would be going too far, right?
Just as he was thinking this, Hagiwara Kenji saw Inspector Megure entering with dark circles under his eyes.
Compared to the detectives who could still spare time to rest by lying down for a while, Inspector Megure had truly stayed up all night without sleep—handling cases and attending meetings with superiors. Fortunately, Police Superintendent Kitami had committed suicide early in the morning, saving Inspector Megure considerable trouble.
At this moment, Inspector Megure walked over to Hagiwara Kenji with huge dark circles under his eyes, saying in a somewhat weak voice: "Take a look at how to write this report."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...? Is this a report you and Shiratori wrote? Isn't the rest supposed to wait for Little Shinryu to come?"
"He can't come for now." Inspector Megure coughed twice, "He called to say the local police needed him, requesting leave—he's probably gotten caught up in another strange case to help solve... You know him well, right? You take a look at how to write this."
Hagiwara Kenji: "................."
Are you serious, sir?! This is acceptable?!
But as Samukawa Shinryu's partner and friend, Hagiwara Kenji stepped up without hesitation.
Of course, when he encountered parts he didn't know how to write, he unceremoniously called Samukawa Shinryu—partly to ask how to write it, partly to find out what case he'd gotten involved in this time.
"Mm, the garbage collectors found my clothes from yesterday and thought there was a murder case, so they called the police. The misunderstanding has been cleared up, and I'm already heading to the Metropolitan Police."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...You just threw them away?"
He somewhat suspected this might be something Little Shinryu had deliberately planned to continue avoiding writing reports.
"The bloodstains were hard to wash out."
Hagiwara Kenji thought about it, remembering that Samukawa Shinryu had received gratitude money from Kokonoe Yoto's friend last month, plus gratitude money from the Hawaiian hotel boss. He really wasn't short on money now, so not wanting the trouble and just throwing things away was acceptable.
Besides, with garbage recycling sorting, when it reached the recycling center and they found clothes that could still be worn, after processing, if they couldn't be sold they might be donated—not really wasteful.
So Hagiwara Kenji began consulting on report writing issues he didn't know how to handle.
When he'd asked about everything, a detective from another case team passing by suddenly stopped beside Hagiwara Kenji and quietly asked: "Are you on the phone with Samukawa-kun?"
Hagiwara Kenji nodded in confusion.
The other person showed an anxious yet shy smile: "Um, I have a rather difficult case here. Could you help me ask for Samukawa-kun's thoughts? I have a meeting starting soon..."
Though the different teams were actually in competition with each other, who wasn't envious after seeing yesterday's progress speed on the "Strawberry Night" case?
The team leader had sent him to probe, hoping Samukawa Shinryu might have some colleague affection.
Hagiwara Kenji: "...I'll ask."
Usuha Izuki was bored on the shinkansen, so having someone willing to chat was fine. He listened to the case and helped offer some suggestions.
Hagiwara Kenji worked on revising reports on the side, while his colleague made appropriate responses like "mm-hmm," "ah," and "I see."
After a while, the colleague suddenly made an exaggerated "eh!" sound: "Is that so? I understand. If they still don't believe after seeing the certificate, you can have them call us to vouch for you."
"...???" Hagiwara Kenji jerked his head up, "What happened?"
The colleague looked embarrassed: "While discussing criminal methods with me, someone on the shinkansen reported him to police, suspecting he was the still-at-large 'Crime Consultant Moriarty'... it was quite the news on TV and in papers before, right? They remembered and thought they'd encountered the real thing..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..........."
Inspector Megure came over to check on the report progress. Hearing about this incident, he also felt speechless—how did Samukawa Shinryu manage to encounter every bizarre situation along the way!
"...Forget it, tell him not to come." Inspector Megure sighed, "The higher-ups are in chaos right now and probably can't spare attention for Samukawa. Besides, the report is finished, so if anything really happens, I'll handle it. Let him rest at home—feels like today isn't a good day for him to go out."
How could there be a police officer who had such trouble just getting to work—unheard of!
If this situation happened frequently, he'd be in a difficult position too, and with Samukawa's personality...
He was somewhat worried the other might not last long in Criminal Investigation Division One either.
Thinking of this, Inspector Megure casually asked: "How long do you think Samukawa can stay with us?"
Shiratori Ninzaburo, passing by, chimed in: "A month should be fine, right?"
Inspector Megure: "...Isn't that too little? I think at least half a year."
Hagiwara Kenji thought about it: "Maybe over a year? If there's no overtime, I think he should quite like Criminal Investigation Division One. Want to bet?"
Shiratori's partner reflexively responded: "No betting!!!"
"...?" Hagiwara Kenji was puzzled, "Why are you so excited?"
Shiratori Ninzaburo sneered: "He still owes Samukawa a bet he hasn't fulfilled."
"What?"
"...Eating shit while doing a handstand."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..........."
What kind of person would use that as a bet!
His partner probed: "Hagiwara, you have a good relationship with Samukawa, right? This bet..."
"How should I put it—he can choose not to collect, but you can't pretend to forget. He holds grudges." Hagiwara Kenji sighed, "But about eating shit while doing a handstand... I don't think he really wants to see that either. How about you discuss with him about changing it to several self-criticism essays—"
The colleague who had just consulted Samukawa Shinryu immediately said: "Isn't that unfair competition? Samukawa's payment for helping is also self-criticism essays. If you monopolize them all at once, what about us in the future? Samukawa probably won't be able to work here much longer before resigning!"
Inspector Megure, who had witnessed the entire exchange: "..........."
How did Criminal Investigation Division One become so toxic... When did quotas for helping write self-criticism essays become something to fight over?! And you're discussing this right in front of me, your superior?!
Samukawa! Look what you've done!!!