Chapter 113

At the end of that year, the internships of this year's Metropolitan Police Department academy students came to an end, followed by the New Year holiday.

Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda had made plans long ago to travel together during the New Year holiday after spending the New Year with their families—and of course, they also invited Saiki Usaku.

So in the end, the three of them drove off on vacation together.

Because of certain unspoken rules in social interactions, even Kenji Hagiwara, who was closest to Saiki Usaba, didn't ask Saiki how an orphan spent the New Year. They just talked about unimportant topics.

"I had also made plans with the class monitor, but he had to spend time with his girlfriend," Kenji Hagiwara remarked. "Life with a girlfriend is just so different from what we single guys do."

Matsuda Jinpei rolled his eyes: "If you want to find a girlfriend, isn't it easy? At every mixer, the girls who ask for your contact information are the ones who come the most, right?"

Kenji Hagiwara smiled and said, "Then I'll go with my girlfriend too. Won't that leave just the two of you on the trip? What if you're both mistaken for bad guys and the police call them?"

"...Do you think everything will be fine with you here?"

Matsuda Jinpei, who naturally accepted the fact that he was standing next to Hanchuan Shenliu and was easily seen as a henchman, couldn't help but complain: "With you around, in the eyes of passersby, it's just another cunning strategist, not much difference!"

Kenji Hagiwara was reluctant to accept this reality, after all, he had been popular since childhood: "That was all an accident."

Usakabe Saiki had been listening to the two of them talking without saying a word, but now he spoke up to add insult to injury: "Even Shima-senpai and Ibuki-senpai are being mistaken for yakuza members, so it's normal that Kenji is still being misunderstood."

Kenji Hagiwara paused for a moment: "...Are you implying that we should just abandon you now?"

They are currently in Kenji Hagiwara's car, and their destination is a hot spring hotel located in the mountains, recommended by a girl Kenji Hagiwara met during a matchmaking event.

When considering where to go for a winter vacation, the first thing that came to mind was a hot spring inn. So Kenji Hagiwara thought of this place and decided to take everyone to try it out.

The car is almost at the foot of the mountain now. Even if we really abandoned Usakabe Saiki, he could climb the mountain on his own, so we knew it was a joke.

Usoya Saiki didn't seem to care much: "I can pretend I don't know you, so that you won't be implicated when others have wild ideas."

"It doesn't have to be this bad..." Matsuda Jinpei was speechless for a moment, "but your demeanor is too strange. Isn't there any way to improve it? For example, why don't you stop having such a blank expression all the time and smile more often?"

Kenji Hagiwara decisively stopped him: "No, I think Fukami is fine as she is!"

Good heavens, Jinpei is so naive! Fukami's smiling face is actually more frightening!

“And I think the situation has improved this time,” Kenji Hagiwara added.

There have indeed been improvements; the Christmas gift Kenji Hagiwara gave to Saiki Usuba was a light khaki coat.

After all, the oppressive feeling of dark colors was too strong, and he hoped to use light-colored clothes to suppress the dangerous feeling of Han Chuan Shen Liu.

As for the results...

At the hot spring inn, the young woman who greeted them had a somewhat stiff smile.

But at least it seems like they don't intend to call the police, so it should have some effect.

The group was led into the reserved room.

Since there were three men, there was no need for them to stay separately in this tatami room, so we booked one room.

Everyone put their luggage down and then checked the time.

"Let's rest for a bit. They'll be delivering the food when it's time." Matsuda Jinpei stretched his limbs. "My back is a little sore..."

Hotels like this offer set menus for dinner. When you make a reservation, they will ask what you want to order, and it will be delivered to your door at the appointed time.

Kenji Hagiwara shook his neck, hearing the rattling sound of bones, and said wearily, "Just thinking about how the Mobile Investigation Team has to sit like this for 24 hours a day makes me feel that it's really not easy. Is Fukami still planning to stay in the Mobile Investigation Team?"

"Ah, about this."

Usaku Saiki remembered that he hadn't said anything yet: "Captain Kikyo talked to me. After that, I'll probably go to the First Investigation Division. Section Chief Odagiri came directly to ask for people."

"Huh?" Kenji Hagiwara was surprised to hear this for the first time. "You're going to the First Investigation Division too? Then we might be colleagues from now on."

Matsuda Jinpei didn't really care about the First Investigation Division; he just liked the explosives disposal team, so he didn't feel abandoned. He just complained, "At this time, what a coincidence. Maybe it's not just a colleague, but also a partner. You'll probably never be able to shake off the label of 'strategist'."

Kenji Hagiwara hesitated: "From now on, everyone will be wearing police uniforms."

Matsuda Jinpei didn't argue with him, but looked at Hagiwara Kenji with a "you'll find out later" look.

Kenji Hagiwara's smile froze: "...It can't be that bad, can it?"

Usakabe Saiki was quite self-aware: "I'll probably be seen as a corrupt cop. Anyway, it's not the first time I've been complained about like this... But in the past, it was always criminals who complained about me. In the future, it might just be strangers."

Hagihara Kenji: "…………"

The three of them chatted and joked around on the tatami mat for a while before the food delivery person arrived.

These tatami rooms with sliding doors don't have locks; the staff can simply call out from the outside and open the door.

Originally, all the rooms in the hot spring hotel were like this, but with the progress of the times, the hotel has also made corresponding adjustments, and the second floor has been changed into rooms with a Western-style layout to meet the various needs of customers.

However, the person who delivered the food was not the young woman who had greeted them earlier, but a strong, muscular man.

He served the dishes to everyone rather clumsily, then silently and quickly left.

Matsuda Jinpei: "…………"

Hagihara Kenji: "…………"

Usakabe Saiki: "It seems he's not in charge of this."

Matsuda Jinpei couldn't help but look at Usui Saiki, who actually had the nerve to speak up: "What do you think is the reason?"

Isn't this a clear case of them not trusting a delicate young woman to host them, so they temporarily reassigned someone who should have been handling other tasks to serve them food?!

Kenji Hagiwara reflected: "Was the light khaki not light enough...?"

“I don’t think it’s a problem with the clothes…” Matsuda Jinpei sighed, “Besides, you won’t be wearing a coat all the time indoors. You can change into a yukata later and it will be fine.”

Matsuda Jinpei always felt that Hagiwara Kenji had a strange bias towards Samikawa Shinryu now, so what if Samikawa Shinryu himself is problematic?!

While Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda were discussing, Saiki Usuba had already quietly started eating.

Since it's one serving per person anyway, he can eat his own without affecting others.

Although Matsuda Jinpei felt the clothes had no effect, Usui Saiki could tell that changing the color scheme did reduce the amount of suspicion he received.

There was no way around it; color is also a form of psychological suggestion. He had already anticipated this loss when he changed his clothes.

However, on the one hand, Usui Saiki didn't want to waste Hagiwara Kenji's kindness, as the Christmas gift he had just given her was perfect to wear; on the other hand, he really wanted to have a proper vacation.

People can't work all the time. It's not good to be thinking about how to increase your suspicion level every day and getting anxious when you don't reach the expected amount. You need to give yourself a few days of relaxation without worrying.

Besides, as long as he doesn't buy anything in that system shop that's a money pit, the suspicion points he's accumulated so far should be enough to exchange for four or five years of lifespan, so he has plenty of time to relax.

Since it's a vacation, there's no need to be too utilitarian. If there's any suspicion, just consider it an unexpected bonus. So when Kenji Hagiwara specifically gave him a blue and white yukata from the yukatas randomly assigned to them by the hot spring hotel, Saiki Usaba accepted it in a very Zen-like manner.

"Hmm..." Ever since discovering Usaku Saiki's perverse sense of humor, Matsuda Jinpei has become less tactful with Usaku Saiki, saying whatever comes to mind. When he found it effective, he didn't hold back his praise, "This is good. At least everyone else won't just quietly leave when we go to the hot spring."

Usoya Saiki pondered, "Then I'd like to wear your black one, so the three of us can have the hot spring pool all to ourselves."

Matsuda Jinpei: "…………"

He said this guy has a terrible personality. Isn't he just using his own vulnerability to being misunderstood as a tool to exploit?!

They even seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves!

Upon hearing Usui Saiki's comment, Hagiwara Kenji's carefully constructed illusions crumbled, his lips twitching: "Forget it, we only wore a towel when we entered the hot spring, so it doesn't matter what we wear now... Let's go, there are fewer people now, which is practically like having the hot spring all to ourselves..."

No wonder Inspector Shima complains about Shinryu's mouth so often... But Shinryu isn't really bad at talking; he often does it on purpose! There's no way to teach him that! He's tried to educate him so many times, but Shinryu hasn't changed at all!

Honestly, the best method that Kenji Hagiwara has found so far is to cover Shinryu Samurai's mouth before he senses that Samurai is about to say something strange; nothing else works.

The three of them went to the bathroom, took a shower, and then wrapped themselves in towels before walking into the outdoor hot spring pool.

As it turns out, Kenji Hagiwara did his homework well; there were indeed few people around at this time, so he didn't need Saiki Usui to scare anyone and could have the hot spring pool all to himself.

The three of them chatted for a bit at first, but soon fell into a comfortable silence.

Unfortunately, this tranquility and warmth did not last long, as a scream suddenly rang out.

Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei opened their eyes suddenly.

Matsuda Jinpei wiped his face: "Something happened?"

Because the women's bath was next door, Kenji Hagiwara didn't rush over there directly. Instead, he called out, "What happened? Do you need help?"

But no one responded to them. Judging from the noise next door, the person who screamed seemed to have run straight back to the locker room.

Kenji Hagiwara frowned, exchanged a glance with Jinpei Matsuda, and the two of them stood up at the same time, deciding to go and ask.

Bo Yezaki also stood up, wanting to participate in the team building activity.

But Kenji Hagiwara cleverly stopped him, saying, "We've only been soaking for a short while, right? You can continue soaking. Jinpei and I are fine over there."

Matsuda Jinpei, lacking emotional intelligence, said, "If you come along, what Hagi could have explained in a couple of sentences will probably take forever to figure out..."

Bo Yezhai: "…………"

Oh no, they've got experience now!