Chapter 131 Chapter 131 Where are you?

131

The dark coffee liquid poured into the takeaway paper cup through the measuring cup, and the bitter aroma and white mist spread out.

"Your three lattes."

The girl with a ponytail and an apron handed the coffee to the handsome young man with pigtails. He raised his eyelids slightly and said softly, "Thank you."

Kenji Hagiwara took three cups of coffee and walked to the table by the window and sat down.

The clock shows 18:39.

"It seems like this is my first official date with him." His eyes curved slightly, his slightly longer hair draping over his cheeks. He casually placed his suit on the back of the sofa behind him and sat down, rolling up his sleeves to his elbows, revealing his sleek arms. "Do you think he's the type to be on time for dates?"

"Please don't be so ambiguous. How can something between three people be called a date?" Matsuda Jinpei lazily leaned back on the sofa, his long legs spread out on either side, and rolled his eyes. "I heard that he's always late in that organization."

Hagiwara Kenji paused while holding the coffee cup.

Many things no longer need to be stated explicitly. Every detail of the Nest Mother's past since she came to this world has been investigated over and over again by all major forces and is no longer a secret.

I already know everything I should and shouldn’t know.

He leaned back in his chair and looked out at the busy street outside the window.

In fact, Kenji Hagiwara had only seen Mo Shiyu performing tasks a few times with his own eyes, but those few times were not beautiful memories, but people and nights embellished with darkness and desire.

Perhaps it was because Xiaoshiyu's infiltration method in that mission was ambiguous, and they had made wrong guesses, so that when Hagiwara Kenji thinks about it now, he feels that he and Xiao Zhenping were two idiots - but what was Xiaoshiyu thinking at that time?

He continued to act out the wrong thing.

Mo Shiyu once tried his best to push him away and told him that all his conversations and emotions with them were pretense and a show.

Yes, it was just a play. Kenji Hagiwara had to admit that his encounter with Mo Shiyu was full of lies.

A little killer who never speaks a word of truth.

But you were clearly stuck in the quagmire, but you didn't give any hint or a word to the police.

So, what was your motivation for approaching the police in the first place?

You are full of lies, I don't believe a word you say, I will investigate your past and the truth.

Their encounter with the little fish, the bond between them from beginning to end, the fog of deception, but also the wonderful, colorful exquisite flowers that grew out of the long-dark lake, and the three true hearts touching each other.

They firmly believe this.

Outside the window, the lamp wicks wrapped around the roadside pillars dyed the nearby curtains a warm golden color.

At this moment, his sight caught a familiar figure in the crowd outside the window and he was slightly startled, "Isn't that..."

The tall blond figure in the crowd also noticed them at this moment. He smiled brightly at them from the coffee shop window, "Isn't this Hagiwara and Matsuda?"

"Manager!" Hagiwara Kenji stood up, his eyes wide with surprise, "Why are you here too?"

The store manager walked in from outside the coffee shop and approached their table. "There's a barista exchange meeting here today, so I came to take a look. I just came out from the meeting."

He looks no different from two or three years ago, still with a brilliant golden hair. His facial features are not handsome, but he has a calm temperament. He has a double-door figure and looks more like an athlete than a pastry chef.

He looked at the three cups of coffee on the table and asked, "Are you waiting for someone?"

Hagiwara Kenji was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, he looked up at the blond-haired and brown-eyed store manager, and a spark of light seemed to glitter in his eyes. "Manager... do you have anything else to do tonight?"

"No." The store manager tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"This is what's going on," Jinpei Matsuda said, picking up the conversation. "We have a friend who's been kidnapped and staying at our house lately. He's had some bad things happen to him, and we want to help him forget about those annoying things. So we're meeting him here tonight for dinner to relax and unwind."

"Manager, you know I can never say anything nice, and Hagi is still at odds with him. But you're different."

Matsuda Jinpei stretched out his pale, slender fingers and pulled down his sunglasses, revealing a pair of clear black eyes beneath them. "Would you like to stay and sit with us for a while?"

"That must be no problem," the store manager agreed immediately and sat down, patting his chest confidently. "It's all about comforting him, isn't it? Take him to eat all over Shinjuku, and I guarantee he'll forget all his worries."

Kenji Hagiwara and Jinpei Matsuda looked at each other.

Kenji Hagiwara smiled, and the small braid hanging from one side of his shoulder made him look like a handsome and fashionable model in a magazine.

Surprise... huh? He thought.

He could even imagine the scene where Xiao Shiyu pushed open the door of the coffee shop and looked into the eyes of the store manager who turned around amid the crisp sound of wind chimes.

You have been traveling alone for too long. Before leaving, isn't it time to raise your glass and have a drink with your friends and family?

What would you say?

Long time no see. How are you?

The sound of wind chimes echoed in the wind. Hagiwara Kenji turned back with some anticipation, looking out the window where a warm golden light flickered, only to see a stranger. He turned back with a touch of disappointment, and out of the corner of his eye he suddenly caught a glimpse of a small dark figure approaching in the darkness.

The next second, a black crow crashed into the glass close to him with a "bang".

There was a loud thud, and the glass cracked in a spiderweb shape.

Blood splattered everywhere.

Several people were startled and immediately looked to the side. The scene outside the window was reflected in their pupils that had shrunk violently in fear.

Black feathers stained with blood fluttered in the air.

The pedestrians outside the window screamed and scattered.

The clock shows 18:47.

“…”

"Excuse me, sir!" The barista was stunned for several seconds before reacting and running over to apologize hurriedly, "Is it scary?"

She also looked terrified, staring at the shattered glass in bewilderment. "What's going on? Why does this always happen tonight?"

"Hey." Matsuda Jinpei called out softly.

"It's okay." Hagiwara Kenji stood up immediately and supported the young barista girl whose legs were shaking. "Don't be afraid, we'll do it."

"Thank you, thank you..."

The little girl kept thanking him. She sniffed her sour nose and suddenly a bloody taste came out of her throat.

In an instant, the white gap between her teeth behind her lips was dyed red by the blood flowing out of her throat. She didn't notice it, but just kept covering her mouth and coughing. She felt that her cold was getting more and more uncomfortable recently, just like the feeling of running 800 meters when she was a student.

She cleared her nose and swallowed a few mouthfuls of bloody saliva, successfully suppressing the bloody smell that filled her mouth.

****

After helping the barista clean the shop and assisting the mall's cleaning staff in burying the bird in the ground not far away, they returned to the streets of Shinjuku and washed their hands several times with disinfectant, but still felt a bit lost in their appetite.

Kenji Hagiwara touched his nose and sneezed.

"What's wrong?" Matsuda Jinpei immediately turned his head to look at him, "Caught a cold?"

"For some reason, I've felt a little tingly in my throat since a while ago." Hagiwara Kenji waved his hands in frustration, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes. "Do you think that scene just now is normal?"

Jinpei Matsuda didn't answer immediately.

The store manager leaned against the wall, his golden-brown eyes constantly gazing at the crowd around him. "Do you feel that there are... too many people here today?"

indeed.

Although Shinjuku is one of Tokyo's busiest areas, tonight was neither a major holiday nor a weekend, yet people seemed to pour in from every corner. The spacious streets were so crowded that it was impossible to see what was happening one or two meters away.

It was already crowded enough to cause a stampede.

"What's going on..." Matsuda Jinpei stood up and used his height advantage to quickly scan his surroundings. His eyes behind his sunglasses were calm and composed. He observed for a few seconds and said decisively, "Something's wrong."

Hagiwara Kenji tried to call several times but couldn't get through. He put down his phone and said, "There are too many people here, and the signal is bad. I can't get through."

Behind them is actually the subway exit, and you can leave here in a few steps.

But the two police officers and a helpful pastry chef had no intention of leaving. Instead, they quickly judged the flow of the crowd and did their best to move to the upper reaches of the crowd to guide them.

There was a constant coughing sound in my ears.

Complaints could be heard from the crowd from time to time. "My throat hurts."

"Did the octopus balls I just ate get bad? I feel so sick I want to vomit!"

"Baby, baby, where have you been?"

"Stop pushing me! I can't move! I can't breathe!"

The chaotic and noisy environment, the crowded crowds, and the impatient conversations formed a chaotic and ominous symphony above this prosperous area.

18:58.

The first man suddenly knelt down, clutching his throat with his hands, and vomited large streams of bright red blood, leaving a horrible, dark, sticky trail on the cement floor.

The noise suddenly became sharper.

"What's going on..." Matsuda Jinpei looked at this scene, and the extremely uneasy premonition in his heart became stronger and stronger.

At the same time, in a two-dimensional figurine store, a doll was unpacked from an unopened blind box figurine and rolled to the corner of the shelf where no one cared.

A few seconds later, a young man with long gray hair crawled out from the bottom of the shelf and walked out of the corner. He didn't even have time to tidy up his hair and hide his conspicuous gray hair. He just took off a baseball cap and put it on, then quickly walked into the crowd.

There were people everywhere. Mo Shiyu gritted his teeth and searched the crowd eagerly.

Where are they? Why can't I see them?

Damn, why are there so many people on this street?!

Coughing was everywhere. Mo Shiyu first squeezed into the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet. He pushed open the door, and the wind chimes rang softly behind him.

The barista stood in the middle of the shop, her back to him.

Mo Shiyu looked around but didn't see them. The shop was empty except for the barista who had his back to him. He wanted to turn around and leave, but suddenly he noticed something was wrong.

He walked up behind the barista.

"Hello..." Mo Shiyu called out softly, looking at the slender figure with an extremely vigilant and cold gaze. "Excuse me, have you seen two young men, one wearing sunglasses and the other with medium-length hair?"

The barista slowly turned his head.

"Those two handsome guys," she said slowly, turning her head. "I remember them. They were so nice and even helped me clean the shop. It's a pity I didn't have time to thank them properly because I had a bad cold and was coughing so hard that even my makeup was ruined."

Mo Shiyu looked at her turned face and slowly narrowed his eyes.

The barista's back is a young girl with long straight black hair. You can almost guess from the back that she must be a delicate and quiet girl from the front.

But now, bird feathers kept growing out of her facial features, nail crevices, and pores, and bright blood kept pouring out from between her teeth, like a prop that was too full. She opened her mouth, and as blood flowed out, she let out a hollow cough.

"Look, my makeup's all smudged." She kept pulling at the feathers growing from her facial features. The feathers stuck to her flesh and mucous membranes. She cried out in unbearable pain and said in disgust, "Why can't you pull them out cleanly? I'm afraid of birds the most."

Mo Shiyu said nothing and watched this strange scene silently.

"You smell good..." She opened her dark eyes, vaguely able to see the carefully drawn eyeliner and blood flowing down the corners of her eyes. She walked towards Mo Shiyu in a crooked manner, "If you know them, please thank them for me."

"You smell so good," she said.

She spoke incoherently and illogically.

When she took the last step towards Mo Shiyu, she opened her mouth and feathers rustled out of her throat. Mo Shiyu quickly dodged and reached out to press on her exposed shoulder.

Pollution, indeed it is pollution.

But……

The girl with long black hair suddenly grabbed his hand, veins popping out on the back of her slender hand. "Coffee beans? How cooked do you want them?"

The pollution quickly faded from her body, along the part where they touched, and was absorbed into Mo Shiyu's body, but the bird feathers were still there. The girl's facial features were still black and bleeding, and feathers kept squeezing out and flying towards Mo Shiyu's facial features, trying to get in.

Mo Shiyu could only retreat.

His face was as pale as paper, and on his exposed wrist was a clear bloody handprint from the girl's scratch.

It was pollution, but it was more than pollution. He absorbed the pollution, but still couldn't save her.

This is contagious pollution.

Plus another virus.

"Ah——" The little girl suddenly let out a sharp scream, staring at Mo Shiyu, her eyes suddenly changed, "There's a bird, don't come over——"

"Kill the bird!"

She pounced on him.

Mo Shiyu pulled out a fruit knife from the bar next to him, held the tip of the knife with his index finger and thumb, and threw the knife straight at the girl's head. The girl's pupils dilated, stared at him straight, and slowly fell backwards to the floor.

"Coffee shop...Mom..."

Mo Shiyu crawled up from the floor, grabbed the door frame, covered his throat, and coughed.

"Officer Hagiwara, Officer Matsuda..." He stared at the rioting crowd, stood up and walked out.