Chapter 29 (Previously Chapter 28): Noah's Ark: Alice in Wonderland...

Silent tears are more like a thunderclap than loud sobs.

Kenji Hagiwara's unexpected reaction caused Jinpei Matsuda's cat ears to stand up immediately.

The curly-haired man hurriedly released the child's collar, placed the child, who was suddenly crying so hard he could hardly breathe, in his arms, and then began searching all over his body for his handkerchief.

But neither a mob boss nor the Cheshire Cat would have such subtle details.

So Zhuge Tongzhi silently touched every fold of the skirt, and finally took out a blue handkerchief and handed it over, which was then handed to Kohagihara Kenjiro, who was wiping her tears with her sleeve.

After a flurry of activity, Matsuda Jinpei finally managed to free one hand, but for a moment he just raised it and put it down again, unsure of what to do. In the end, he decided to tentatively place it behind Hagiwara Kenji.

However, the other person quickly tugged at his trench coat sleeve, indicating that they wanted to get down. Matsuda Jinpei, who had never held a child before, subconsciously reached out to grab the collar, but then suddenly realized what was happening and had to awkwardly put the person back on the ground.

After the emotional breakdown, the body's instincts could not be controlled by reason. The small blue handkerchief was quickly soaked with water and turned dark blue, but tears still rolled down from the corners of her eyes like beads from a broken string.

Fortunately, things in the fairyland seemed to be inexhaustible. Zhuge Tongzhi took out a light blue handkerchief and handed it to Hagiwara Kenji, who was trying to calm himself down. After handing it to him, he took out a new handkerchief from the folds of his skirt and gave it to him as well.

Kenji Hagiwara whispered a thank you. Although he didn't say anything, his voice was very dry and hoarse, and his dog-like eyes, which were flushed, gave her a forced smile.

It's a bit pitiful.

Zhuge Tongzhi watched as he wiped his tear-streaked face with a clean handkerchief, sniffed, and began to take deep breaths to control his racing heart rate. Every now and then, he had to use the handkerchief to dab at the corners of his eyes, which were becoming wet again.

But her sympathy was quickly overshadowed, and the girl thought again: if we're just talking about the fact that he dared to defuse a bomb without wearing a bomb suit, then he really deserved to be scolded by Matsuda Jinpei.

Since you've chosen to work as a high-risk police officer in the explosives response team, you must always keep safety in mind and have reverence for the fragility of life.

Even the most skilled person cannot guarantee that they will never make a mistake in the past, present, or future.

Although the countdown bomb that was restarted was an extremely rare act of revenge against the police, and could even be considered a tragedy needed for the plot, Kenji Hagiwara was just the unlucky one who was chosen and was destined to be unable to defuse the bomb.

But that should not be an excuse for him not wearing a bomb suit and smoking in front of a bomb.

Even without the plot bomb that would have killed them on November 7th, on December 7th, May 7th, February 7th, or even just an ordinary day when they went on a mission...

As long as Kenji Hagiwara continues in this position, the bombs he handles could easily claim the lives of the unprotected due to a single mistake.

Therefore, regardless of the mission, the fact that 'Kenji Hagiwara did not wear a bomb suit' is a serious safety issue that Matsuda Jinpei needs to scrutinize closely.

Matsuda Jinpei, who was standing aside as punishment, felt the same way because he had made his childhood friend cry for reasons he didn't even know.

The planned beating of his childhood friend not only failed to materialize, but he inexplicably became the weaker party, leaving the curly-haired officer feeling deeply aggrieved—it was clearly Hagi's fault!

Moreover, why did he react so strongly? Did his physical state shrink and his mental age shrink as well, and then he made him cry?

But what comes in is everyone's consciousness, so what physiological state is there to speak of? Theoretically speaking, the determining factor for becoming an adult or a child is simply the data responsible for changing the appearance model.

Is he really that fierce?

For the first time, Matsuda Jinpei doubted his own masculine charm and fell into deep thought. His black cat ears twitched, drooped to the sides, and then suddenly stood up as if he had thought of something, vividly portraying the inner turmoil of a man.

Unlike the seemingly unapproachable owner of the pool, the adorable cat ears are incredibly cute and cuddly.

Zhuge, hold your ground. You'll be the next one held accountable for ignoring the evacuation order. Don't let your attention be distracted.

Zhuge Tongzhi reminded himself and struggled to look away from Matsuda Jinpei's head, but when he looked down, his attention was drawn to the movement of the hem of the other man's trench coat.

Hmm... The girl squinted and stared at the restless hem of her dress, catching a glimpse of a nimble black shadow through the swaying gap. The shadow's movements were almost in sync with her ears.

Wow.

It really has completely turned into a cat.

Neither the large nor the small figure, whose thoughts were completely divergent, spoke, giving Kenji Hagiwara ample time to compose himself. The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, with only scattered chirping of insects and birds echoing in the air.

In the endless silence, Kenji Hagiwara sorted out all the emotions that he couldn't even figure out himself, reached out and grabbed Jinpei Matsuda's wrist, which was hanging by his side, and pulled him up. He then looked up and immediately apologized, made promises, and asked for forgiveness in one smooth motion.

"I'm sorry, Jinpei."

"I will absolutely, positively wear protective clothing properly from now on."

Please forgive me.

"Is it alright?" After wiping away his tears, Kenji Hagiwara regained his senses and quickly sensed the unspoken reproach hidden beneath his childhood friend's silence, as well as the deep fear and dread beneath the anger and reproach.

He really scared Kojinpei.

But Kenji didn't want to get punched by Jinpei. The kid, who had been causing trouble since childhood, instinctively picked up his old strategy of admitting his mistakes again, raised his eyes, which were still red from crying, and looked pitifully at Matsuda Jinpei, who had lowered his head.

The man, his expression hidden behind sunglasses in the shadows, stared into Kohagihara's still-dewy eyes. His expression remained unchanged for a long time, causing Zhuge Tongzhi, who was standing to the side, to clench her skirt tightly with her restless hands.

Matsuda-kun, you can't possibly beat up a child, can you?

Kenji Hagiwara was also a little unsure. Admitting mistakes decisively was always a popular approach with elders, so even though he and Jinpei Matsuda had gotten into trouble together when they were young, when the adults caught them, it was usually Jinpei Matsuda, who loved to talk back, who got scolded more.

The problem is that Matsuda Jinpei had already seen through this strategy in practice, but his arrogant personality made him unwilling to admit defeat and beg for mercy.

Using a child's appearance to feign pitifulness and act cute... will that still work? The boy's face, flushed from wiping with cloth, showed a hesitant expression, and the hand gripping Matsuda Jinpei's wrist loosened slightly.

At that moment, Matsuda Jinpei, who was wearing sunglasses, suddenly raised his fist high.

"Are we going to get beaten up?" Both Kenji Hagiwara and Kirito Zhuge felt a chill run down their spines, with the former immediately closing his eyes under the intimidation.

Matsuda Jinpei looked at Hagiwara Kenji beside him, whose eyes were tightly closed. The child's face clearly showed a tense expression of struggle, but his hands were gripping his wrists tightly, and he did not move his feet at all. He looked like he was going to die a heroic death.

He leisurely lowered his raised fist, relaxed his body, leaned against the ancient tree beside him, his black boots lazily resting on the soft grass, and chuckled.

"Since you know how to be afraid, then wear your bomb suit properly next time."

"Eh, aren't you going to fight?" Kenji Hagiwara tentatively opened his eyes and saw his childhood friend taking off his sunglasses. His dark eyes, which were shining brightly in the sunlight filtering through the leaves, were looking at him.

Just like in the hospital, Matsuda Jinpei reached out and flicked his motionless childhood friend's forehead hard. He watched as his friend, no longer oblivious and unresponsive, immediately cried out in pain, covered his forehead with both hands, and then began to look at him pitifully.

Unfortunately, this trick didn't work on him. If he's grown up seeing this and still has no immunity, he should probably check his immune system against Kenji Hagiwara.

“I don’t believe your promises, hagi.”

Matsuda Jinpei let out a long yawn, feeling his nerves, which had been tense for a week, slowly relax. Mental fatigue surged into his heart like a tide, but along with it, a sense of satisfaction and security enveloped his heart.

He rubbed his hair, looked down at his childhood friend, and said seriously, "For the next period of time, you will no longer be leading the missions. You will be assigned to my team to learn the safety regulations until I think you are qualified."

"Eh... um, so Kenji-chan got demoted?" Hagiwara Kenji lowered his hand from his forehead, took out a handkerchief and pretended to wipe away tears, feigning distress as he cried, "If we can't pay the rent for the shared apartment, will Jinpei kick Kenji-chan out?"

"Then go live in your police dormitory." Seeing that Kenji Hagiwara had completely shaken off his earlier mood, Matsuda Jinpei smiled and teased his childhood friend, then shook his fist at him, his voice gradually lowering: "As for that, we'll talk about it when we get out."

Looking at the rather intimidating fist, Zhuge Tongzhi and Hagiwara Kenji swallowed silently at the same time. Several figures suddenly flashed through the girl's mind. She thought about it and then silently clenched the hem of her skirt, which had just relaxed.

Saving someone is so difficult.

"Get out? Jinpei, where exactly is this?" However, Kenji Hagiwara quickly grasped the key point in this sentence. Having confirmed at first glance that his childhood friend was indeed him, he soon began to doubt the reality of the fairytale-like environment around him.

"Where is this? That's a question worth discussing." Matsuda Jinpei, leaning against a tree, curled the corners of his mouth. Cat ears suddenly peeked out from his hair and twitched twice. He gestured with his fingers to indicate the surrounding environment.

"This is reality, the rabbit forest, the place where you are standing." The exceptionally handsome Cheshire Cat, Matsuda Jinpei, gave a riddle-like answer, tilting his head towards the depths of the forest: "But I can tell you, the rabbit ran off that way."

But there wasn't just one path leading to the forest; each one was hidden in the shade, winding and turning so that it was impossible to see where it led.

"Then, can you tell me which way to go next?" Zhuge Tongzhi asked the mysterious Cheshire Cat, just like Alice in the fairy tale.

Matsuda Jinpei's riddle-like words made her realize that if she wanted to circumvent the principle of 'not sharing information,' she needed to ask some ambiguous questions.

“That depends on which direction you want to go.” Matsuda Jinpei’s cat tail swayed gently, the movement attracting the attention of Hagiwara Kenji, who was belatedly staring at his childhood friend’s head. A look of amazement slowly appeared on his face.

“If you keep walking, you will definitely reach somewhere.” Matsuda, the Cheshire Cat, said, making an inviting gesture in the direction of progress. During the conversation, he did not notice that Kenji Hagiwara had somehow circled around behind him.

Does that mean it doesn't matter which path you take? Zhuge Tongzhi pondered for a moment, then looked up at the Cheshire Cat's languid expression and asked his guess: "Am I awake or asleep?"

“This involves how you define being awake, ‘physiological’ or ‘consciousness’…” Matsuda Jinpei’s words were cut off, and he shrugged at the girl who seemed to have just realized something. “The rabbit’s pocket watch will tell you everything.”

So the explosion was an accident, right? Her memory only stopped at the moment she was about to pull out her parachute before it cut off. Zhuge Tongzhi quickly pieced everything together, so now her body is asleep, but her consciousness has entered this Alice in Wonderland with its strange laws.

Matsuda Jinpei understood this, as did Yoshida Ayumi. Was this a man-made consciousness environment? The short-haired girl felt she would soon get the answer, so…

Matsuda Jinpei gave the hints he could, and the Cheshire Cat, having completed his task, should leave. He put two fingers together in front of his forehead and gave a nonchalant nod to the girl who was deep in thought: "Let's go, little Alices, before the rabbit gets too far!"

But his flat tone suddenly rose at the end, interrupting Zhuge Tongzhi's train of thought.

The girl raised her head, looking at Matsuda Jinpei with confusion as he suddenly cut off her words. She instinctively turned around sharply and slammed her raised fist down as she did so.

"Ouch!" A clear child's voice cried out in pain.

"Hagi!" The magnetic voice contained 200% of gritted teeth.

Zhuge Tongzhi shifted his feet, passing Matsuda Jinpei's back, and saw Hagiwara Kenji squatting on the ground, covering his head. There were some suspicious black furs in the other person's hands.

Of the two people and one cat present, zero of them are the owners of these furry creatures.

Kenji Hagiwara, you're really brave.

With that courage, you'll succeed at anything you do.

The girl stared in amazement at the man who dared to pull her childhood friend's cat's tail, watching him pitifully raise his head again to meet Matsuda Jinpei's sour face, saying that he didn't mean to.

People don't believe it, and neither do cats.

The cat sneered and grabbed the child by the collar.

But Kenji Hagiwara spoke up first: "Okay, I did it on purpose. Jinpei and Cheshire Cat are a perfect match, okay!"

"And," he glanced at Matsuda Jinpei, whose face clearly said, 'Let me hear your excuse,' and his voice suddenly softened, "I don't know why, but Kenji-chan feels like she's been separated from Jinpei for a very, very long time..."

"It's been so long that it feels like... I'll never see Jinpei again. Kenji-chan misses Jinpei so much."

A genuine sense of bewildered sadness and longing surfaced in Kenji Hagiwara's deep purple eyes. Finally, when he looked at Jinhei Matsuda, who had been stunned for a moment, his puppy-dog eyes curved into crescent moons with a smile: "It's good that I've seen you now."

Knowing that the other party wanted to avoid what had just happened, Matsuda Jinpei could only sigh in the end, put his childhood friend, who was now using the child's appearance to commit many tricks, back on the ground, and squatted down himself.

A sudden breeze swept through the man's outstretched arms, lifting his trench coat and causing it to flutter behind him. A corner of his blue and white striped shirt peeked out from his waist, the vibrant color breaking the otherwise somber atmosphere.

"Welcome back, hagi."

Matsuda Jinpei smiled and said something very ordinary, but it made Hagiwara Kenji, who was constantly falling into a complicated black and white dream, feel a lump in his throat.

Neither the demon nor the tower could sever the bond between them. The stars gently brought a glimmer of hope, and at the crossroads of life, they were reunited.

Kenji Hagiwara has rediscovered his anchor in life.

The same applies to Matsuda Jinpei.

The adorable, shoulder-length-haired boy threw himself into the arms of the handsome Ikemen. Just as Zhuge Tongzhi was about to be deeply moved to tears, he watched helplessly as Hagiwara Kenji's hand secretly slipped behind his childhood friend who was bending down.

Then he grabbed Matsuda Jinpei's cat ears, one in each hand.

"Thump!"

"Aww!"

A pleasant sound is a good start.

I'll say it again, Kenji Hagiwara.

With this kind of courage and perseverance, you will succeed in whatever you do.

…

Alice, who angered the Cheshire Cat, was thrown into the forest.

Of course, Zhuge Tongzhi walked in briskly after Matsuda Jinpei vigorously rubbed his head and gave him a few instructions.

Two small children stepped over the scattered stones on the ground, bypassed several clumps of exceptionally lush berry trees, climbed over a dead tree lying across the middle of the road, and finally arrived at a mushroom-shaped wooden house, where Ayumi Yoshida, with long rabbit ears, was waiting at the door.

But the rabbit guide wasn't responsible for giving them any directions. The short-haired girl hopped and waved at them before running into the wide-open wooden house.

Gradually realizing their predicament, the two stopped delaying and quickly entered the house, passing through the hall and walking into a back garden surrounded by trees—where a long, rectangular wooden table stood.

A boy with large ears sat at the messy wooden table, yawning and rubbing his eyes sleepily as he looked at them.

"Haaah—", Conan had just finished yawning once, but couldn't help yawning again.

Since entering the dream state, a persistent drowsiness has made his thinking as sluggish as if he were stuck in a quagmire.

"You're so slow."

The boy tried to straighten up, but his dormant nature made it impossible for him to clear his mind of drowsiness. Conan patted his cheeks and said, "We're going to have a tea party. Now, someone needs to become an adult and be the Mad Hatter."

Zhuge Tongzhi took out two glass bottles, and Hagiwara Kenji very naturally picked up the bottle with the red five-pointed star engraved on it, about to drink the liquid inside.

But Conan slowly stopped him: "No, the rule is that 'if you've eaten a cookie, you can't drink a beverage in front of others.'"

Extreme drowsiness made the detective momentarily oblivious to the subtle implications of the rule. For the umpteenth time, he raised his hand to wipe away the tears welling up in his eyes, yawned, and pointed to a dark green magician's hat and a rabbit ear headband on the table, indicating that they needed to wear the corresponding decorations according to their identities.

"Oh right, you definitely do always try to hide it when you transform back into Shinichi Kudo." Zhuge Tongzhi looked at Conan, who was constantly yawning and hadn't yet experienced switching between his large and small forms, and couldn't help but reveal a half-moon eye.

Who exactly makes these rules? She asked herself again, but no one else seemed to realize these questions, so she could only shake her head and suppress her thoughts.

“Then I’ll handle this. Let’s finish this quickly.” Zhuge Tongzhi put the capsule biscuits back into the folds of her skirt, looked at the liquid in the bottle that looked like water in the light, and said to Hagiwara Kenji, “There won’t be any danger here, right?”

Recalling the veiled exchange of information earlier, although he was not entirely clear about the specific process and reasons, Kenji Hagiwara roughly guessed the nature of this dreamlike wonderland. After pondering for a while, he nodded in agreement.

Amid Conan's incessant yawning, Zhuge Tongzhi took a sip of the liquid from the glass bottle.

The mellow, alcohol-free liquid flowed through my mouth, then, with a spicy kick, it traveled down my throat and into my stomach.

A wave of heat spread through her body.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Great Detective, you've been banned for being too smart (sad).

…

Kenji Hagiwara: Let's take a gamble, Xiaozhenping will turn into a kitten!

Zhuge Liang: A look of amazement. (jpg)

…

The current rules of Alice in Wonderland:

1. Team messages are not shared.

2. If you have eaten cookies, you should not drink beverages in front of others.

3, ?