Chapter 64

When Kenji Hagiwara received the call from Saiki Usuba, he didn't think much of it when he heard that he was being asked to go to the Metropolitan Police Department. He assumed it was the same situation as before and got up very naturally without asking any questions.

“Okay, no problem. The Metropolitan Police Department, right? I happen to be free, I’ll be right there.”

Instructor Onizuka, whose head was noticeably balder than when school started, also raised his head: "It's Hanchuan again?"

“Yes.” Kenji Hagiwara tidied up the documents in his hand. “I’ll deal with these when I get back. Anyway, my internship isn’t until next week.”

"It's Monday the day after tomorrow," Instructor Onizuka reminded him, then calmly asked, "What happened to Hanchuan again?"

Kenji Hagiwara remained calm: "I don't know, but Jinpei is here too, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Instructor Onizuka sighed, "It's alright. Compared to when school first started, he encounters incidents much less frequently now."

Yes, several months have passed, and the instructors and teaching assistants of the Onizuka class have become numb to Shinryu Hatsukawa's tendency to cause accidents.

Especially compared to the high frequency of incidents during the first month of school, it's truly reassuring that things only happen once every two or three weeks now.

Kenji Hagiwara tidied up his desk and hurriedly left the police academy, heading towards the Metropolitan Police Department.

Having previously worked in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit at the Metropolitan Police Department, he greeted acquaintances along the way and even met the person in charge who had previously advised him to reconsider whether he wanted to stay in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit.

The person in charge asked, "How was your time at the police academy?"

"Not bad," Kenji Hagiwara remarked. "My students are starting their internships next week; time really flies..."

"And what about you?" the person in charge asked. "What are your plans after this batch graduates? Some say they want to go to the police academy to rediscover their original passion, and not stay there too comfortably and refuse to come back. That would be a waste for you. Even if you don't go back to the explosives disposal unit, it would be good to go to another department. The police academy is just a retirement home..."

Kenji Hagiwara paused for a moment: "Actually, it's not very comfortable either..."

Perhaps recalling some rumors about the Onizuka Squad, the person in charge paused for a moment: "...As long as you know what's going on. But I think you'd be better able to utilize your strengths if you left the Explosives Handling Squad and went to the Criminal Investigation Department."

Kenji Hagiwara smiled and said, "I'll consider it."

After saying goodbye to the person in charge, Kenji Hagiwara followed the directions given by the person in charge to find Jinpei Matsuda and Saiki Usuba.

Matsuda Jinpei wasn't in the explosives disposal unit's office; instead, he borrowed someone else's room to take statements.

When Kenji Hagiwara knocked and entered, Saiki Usaba was passing the time by borrowing a newspaper from the Metropolitan Police Department. Jinpei Matsuda was sitting cross-legged in a chair, looking at his phone in one hand and propping his face up with the other, with his legs crossed. He had a fierce expression and looked like he was in a bad mood.

"I'm not late, am I?" Kenji Hagiwara asked with a smile, trying to ease the tension. "What happened to Shinryu this time?"

Usaku Saiki was about to speak when Matsuda Jinpei interrupted him.

"Don't say anything yet—Hagi!" Matsuda Jinpei said aggressively. "That guy actually went and defused the bomb today! He had already finished when I arrived!"

Kenji Hagiwara's smile froze on his face as he looked at Saiki Usui in disbelief: "You..."

Why would you do something so dangerous?!

Matsuda Jinpei wasn't finished complaining: "He said you taught him, but how did you teach him? Didn't you tell him what to pay attention to?"

As he spoke, Matsuda Jinpei gritted his teeth: "He was lucky this time. If it were like last time, with the prisoner remotely restarting..."

It was obvious that Matsuda Jinpei was frightened by Usui Saiki's actions and was reminded of the psychological trauma Hagiwara Kenji had left him, so he became angrier the more he thought about it.

Matsuda Jinpei had already scolded Usuiba Saiki, but after all, his relationship with Usuiba Saiki wasn't particularly good. They had only known each other for a year but hadn't seen each other many times. They could only say that they were friends, but they rarely spent time alone together. It was a little awkward without Hagiwara Kenji around, so he couldn't say too much, and he kept holding back his anger.

Now that he saw Kenji Hagiwara, he finally had an outlet for his anger and gave both of them a good, satisfying beating.

Kenji Hagiwara still looked a little confused.

He was immediately framed for something he didn't do upon arrival, and his childhood friend brought up old grievances against him.

When did he ever teach Shinryu how to defuse bombs?! And the fact that he almost got blown up was a year ago, wasn't that already something to be criticized about and moved on? Why are you criticizing him again now?

He was implicated by Xiao Shenliu, wasn't he?

Kenji Hagiwara gave Saiki Usui a look that said, "I'll take the blame for you for now, but you'll have to explain yourself properly when we get back."

Matsuda Jinpei noticed his subtle movements and became even angrier: "What, do you think I'm wrong? You're not setting a good example, and Kankawa is following your lead! What if he tries this again next time if I don't say anything now?!"

Hagihara Kenji was in a trance.

He served as a teaching assistant for six months, but now it seems that Kojinpei is more like a teacher than he is...

Usaku Saiki and Hagiwara Kenji were both scolded, but Matsuda Jinpei finally shut up after someone went to find him.

Once Matsuda Jinpei left, Hagiwara Kenji breathed a sigh of relief: "Oh my god, Fukami-chan, why didn't you tell me? I could have been mentally prepared."

Then, Usakabe Saiki spoke the first words Hagiwara Kenji had after entering the room: "...I didn't expect him to react so strongly."

Kenji Hagiwara pondered for a second and realized that Jinpei was still holding a grudge about almost being blown up last time, so whenever he encountered a similar situation, his psychological trauma would flare up. In a way, it could be considered that he had dragged Fukami down with him... They were mutually implicated, so they were barely even.

Regardless, after learning that Matsuda Jinpei only seemed to be fine but actually suffered from psychological trauma in similar situations, Hagiwara Kenji made up his mind completely—he should go to the Criminal Investigation Department after all.

Otherwise, it would be too tiring for Xiaozhenping to work while constantly worrying about him, especially since everyone had been so carefree and trusting of each other before...

But while the issues that implicated each other have been settled, other things are still unresolved.

"I taught you how to defuse a bomb, huh?" Kenji Hagiwara smiled very gently. "You dared to defuse a bomb on your own before even graduating, huh?"

"...Let me explain."

Kenji Hagiwara sneered: "Fine, go back and give me a proper explanation."

He led the person back to the police academy and brought him to his assistant teacher's dormitory. Hagiwara Kenji sat down and had Usui Saiki stand in front of him, simulating a scene where a teacher calls a student to the office, trying to put some pressure on Usui Saiki.

"Speak, no one else can hear us here, what exactly happened?"

When Usaku Saiki dragged Hagiwara Kenji out to take the blame, he was already prepared to explain himself. However, he didn't expect Matsuda Jinpei to scold Hagiwara Kenji so fiercely. Feeling guilty, he cooperated a lot.

“The situation is quite urgent,” said Bo Yezaki. “The countdown is going too fast, and I happen to be there. I can’t just watch it explode.”

Kenji Hagiwara was very worried: "That's too dangerous. If there's enough time to evacuate, you can evacuate with the others. The mall is insured, so it's okay if it gets damaged. But you only have one life."

Fortunately, he only found out about the news when he saw the lively and energetic Xiao Shenliu. Otherwise, if he had found out in the middle of the process that this guy was defusing a bomb, he doesn't know how he would have felt.

Bo Yezaki nodded: "There wasn't enough time for evacuation this time."

Kenji Hagiwara could only advise, "If you operate it improperly, the countdown may become shorter. If you're not confident, don't touch it recklessly."

After all, he's a policeman. He can't just say, "Don't worry about how many people die, just make sure you don't die." If he were there, he couldn't possibly know that he might disarm the bomb and just watch it explode.

Bo Yezaki replied, "I am confident."

“…Very well.” Kenji Hagiwara tapped the table. “Since you’ve put it that way, let me ask you: where did you learn bomb disposal?!”

Kenji Hagiwara suspected that the way this guy learned bomb disposal was probably not normal.

Usakabe Saiki looked at Hagiwara Kenji, who was generating a lot of suspicion for him, and coughed lightly: "It's a method I can't tell you... Thank you for helping me keep it a secret."

Hagihara Kenji held his forehead in pain.

He has been worried ever since Xiao Shenliu confessed to him a few months ago that he had been in contact with a certain illegal organization that seemed to have a wide reach.

However, as Xiao Shenliu encountered fewer problems later on, he gradually lowered his guard, thinking that the organization might have given up on recruiting Xiao Shenliu.

And then, without a word, that kid, Shinryu, actually learned how to defuse bombs!!! That organization must have taught him, right?! What are they trying to get Shinryu to do?!

Furthermore, Kenji Hagiwara doesn't believe for a second that the organization only taught bomb disposal—bomb disposal masters are also bomb-making masters, and vice versa.

What do criminal organizations learn about bomb disposal? They're definitely taught how to make bombs. Little Deep Flow can figure out how to defuse bombs by doing it himself!

Now that you've taught him how to make bombs, is the next step to coerce or bribe Shinryu into planting them in strange places to disrupt important meetings or assassinate someone?!

Originally, he didn't dare to ask too many questions because he didn't want Xiao Shenliu to worry about him being silenced for knowing too much, but this time he really couldn't let it go!

Kenji Hagiwara 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," Bo Yezaiji comforted him. "So far, as long as I don't want to do it, they can't force me to do anything. Learning more things isn't a bad thing."

“But if you learn it, they’ll have something on you.” Kenji Hagiwara pressed his temples. “Besides learning these things from an illegal organization, is there anything else you haven’t told me?”

Usakabe Saiki answered honestly, "Many."

Hagihara Kenji: "…………"

“Don’t delve into this too much, it will make me very worried,” said Bo Yezhai. “But I can tell you that so far, I have never done anything against my conscience or my principles.”

Kenji Hagiwara looked at him with a complicated expression.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "...I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Um."

"I don't want to doubt you, I just want to protect you."

"...Actually, you can doubt me more. I'm not as good as you think."

Kenji Hagiwara said irritably, "I don't have that much free time to doubt my friends all day. If you're worried about disappointing me, you'd better act like a good kid before I find out—stop testing me in the future, or you'll have to explain to Jinpei yourself next time! I won't take the blame for you! You can't keep saying I taught you how to do things when you encounter problems at work!"

Bo Yezhai: "...Okay."

Kenji Hagiwara, who had already experienced the destructive power of a mischievous child before even getting married, pressed his temples and pulled a book out of his bookshelf: "Although I don't want you to do dangerous things, being half-baked is even more dangerous... Come on, let me check how good your bomb disposal skills really are."

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I'm writing an extra chapter tonight, and I'm in tears.

I'm so tired after a week-long trip. I'm lying down now. I have to have a gastroscopy in a couple of days, which makes me feel even more exhausted...

.

Hagiwara: What kind of nonsense did that organization teach you! What do they even want you to do?!

Vodka, on the verge of a nervous breakdown: ...?

.

Hagiwara, implicated by Usoba, was given a dressing down by Matsuda. How pitiful!

Hagiwara actually noticed that Usoba would occasionally extend her claws to probe him.

Hagiwara: If you're worried about disappointing me, you'd better become a good child before I find out.

Thin Leaf Contemplation