Chapter 34: Psychic Detective Part 3

Kurosaki Utsuki was packing her things slowly. The gaze of Hagiwara Kenji coming from behind made her feel itchy as if she was bitten by a bug.

She wasn't curious at all... Just kidding, she was so curious! How could he have someone he wanted to marry? How could her, his employer, not know?

She spent so much time with him every day, and she had never seen his eyes linger on any girl for too long... It couldn't be that the person he was talking about was her!

…No, she didn't particularly care about it. She just felt that if he had someone he liked, she shouldn't bother him anymore by having him take her to the infirmary every day. Otherwise, if his future wife asked about it, she'd definitely suspect something was amiss.

There was also the matter of climbing onto his windowsill, looking for him late at night, and of course, being alone indoors... So, out of desperation, she invited Jinpei Matsuda to come over for the weekend, and of course he agreed...

She didn't feel any regrets! She had no regrets at all! And she didn't care at all!

"Kurosaki, what are you angry about?" Matsuda suddenly asked.

"Why am I angry?"

…Is she obviously angry?

Damn it! She cares so much!

Moreover, she had a plan after school - she met the soul of the recently deceased murder victim introduced by Geto Suguru in the early morning, and learned a lot of important information from him, so she planned to go to the Metropolitan Police Department after school to find Detective Mori and give him clues.

Because Detective Maori had mentioned several times that he wanted to meet her photographer, she originally wanted to ask Hagiwara if he wanted to go with her this time.

Jinpei Matsuda, who suddenly felt like he might be in the way, picked up his bag and, reading the air and confident in his friend, said, "Hagi, I'll be leaving first."

Once Matsuda left, only Kurosaki Utsuki and Hagiwara Kenji were left nearby. The orange-haired girl quickly stuffed the last item on the table into her bag. After hesitating for a second, she gave up on her curiosity and picked up her bag. "Then I'll leave too."

But she couldn't leave smoothly. Feeling that he needed to explain himself no matter what, Hagiwara Kenji asked before she even took a step: "What are your plans, Kurosaki-chan?"

...Based on her past experience, Hagiwara would ask this question, and no matter whether she answered yes or no, he would suggest going with her.

After a brief thought, Kurosaki Utsuki chose to tell the truth.

So now the two of them are on their way to the Metropolitan Police Department.

Walking down the street wasn't so awkward anymore. Kurosaki Utsuki explained the previous day's case to her photographer in a businesslike manner. It was a robbery and murder case, with one victim and some stolen property, a fairly ordinary crime in Beika City.

"If you don't want to show your face, you can wait for me outside later." Kurosaki Utahi said, "We can finish this conversation in ten minutes."

After all, she was only there to provide a direction for the investigation - the criminal was not an acquaintance, but the victim had seen him several times and had a quarrel with him because he had thrown garbage outside his house.

This was the only information provided to her by the victim's soul, and she could only pass this little-known story on to the police. As for finding the identity of the criminal, it depended on the police officers' own efforts.

Hagiwara Kenji didn't seem to have any intention of hiding his identity: "But didn't the detective say he wanted to see me?"

"…It's okay to let him continue thinking about it."

After all, he was just an innocent photographer she'd "hired," and she'd made it clear to Detective Maori that he wasn't involved in the investigation. While her original intention was to prevent him from getting dragged into any trouble or danger associated with his "detective" status, seeing he didn't mind, she didn't say anything further.

...She could find a way to treat most common injuries, or ask Mr. Urahara to find a way to treat them. If he really encountered danger and unfortunately died, she would not be without a way to remedy the situation.

As long as his death is not so heroic and eye-catching, she can try to make him a god of death and then use the artificial corpse to continue "living". This was the inspiration given to her by Rukia Kuchiki.

·

Arriving at the Metropolitan Police Department, Kogoro Mouri appeared in the meeting room, his face showing signs of a sleepless night, perhaps from a long, drawn-out night. But upon seeing a strange young man beside Kurosaki Utsuki, he perked up a bit and asked if he was the photographer for "Hagiwara Kaki."

"Detective Mori," Kurosaki Utsuki interrupted, "since I'm asking the police for help, shouldn't you greet me first?"

"Now that he's here to see me, stop protecting him." The young detective, who had known her for a long time, said it all out, with an air of meeting a parent. "What young man would like to be protected by his girlfriend all the time?" !!!

"I'm not—"

"Detective is right," Hagiwara Kenji smiled and agreed nonchalantly, "I also believe that lovers should share responsibilities and risks."

The corner of Kurosaki Utsuki's mouth twitched.

Although from her perspective, it seemed that he only agreed with Detective Maori's point of view, but to the detective on the opposite side, it was clearly an admission that he was in a romantic relationship with her!

Seriously! He interrupted her clarification and instead tacitly acknowledged this completely untrue story. Isn't he afraid that his future spouse will be unhappy?

The same emotion she had felt in the classroom not long ago resurfaced. Kurosaki Utsuki glared at the boy beside her, then, as if to divert attention, cut straight to the chase. "The robbery and murder that occurred on the night of June 16th should still be under investigation, right? It looks like the cordon is still in place."

But after all, only two days have passed, so it's not unusual that the identity of the criminal hasn't been found out yet.

Although it was just such a common question, the young detective on the other side immediately understood what she meant and was shocked again: "Do you have any clues?"

Kurosaki Utsuki then recounted the previous news: "Although there were no witnesses to the victim's quarrel, the two met again at Beika Station later that day. The victim rushed over when he saw the man, but because there were too many people at the station, he did not run into the other person."

The general meaning is that the station’s surveillance camera probably captured the criminal’s face, but she didn’t know exactly where it was, so the police had to slowly search for the needle in the haystack themselves.

After so many encounters, Maori Kogoro had become very confident in Kurosaki Utaha's abilities. He accepted the clues provided by the other party without questioning, but asked with more suspicion than usual: "Where did you get your information?"

"I have a huge underground intelligence network in Beihua - just kidding." Kurosaki Utsuki shrugged.

Although it wasn't because of this "joke," Hagiwara Kenji beside him did laugh. Compared to him, the detective opposite him had a completely dark face.

Kurosaki Utsuki waved her hand. "I think the explanation just now is easier to accept. If I said it was the victim's spirit who told me, you would be even less likely to believe it, right?" She said innocently, "But other than that, I can't give you any other answer."

"you--"

"Okay, that's all I have to do." Kurosaki Utsuki stood up, ready to say goodbye. "You've seen me, Photographer. I don't know what case you're investigating right now, Detective, but I'm sure you'll be busy from now on."

Since she had said this, Kogoro Mouri, who had failed to ask several times before, no longer insisted - he couldn't get the answer anyway - he waved his hand and told her to do as she pleased, and soon trotted back to continue working.

On the side with the remaining two people, the atmosphere became awkward again - only for Kurosaki Utsuki.

Hagiwara Kenji, on the other hand, seemed to be in a good mood. He had barely left the Metropolitan Police Department when he suddenly seemed to recall something and finally asked about the "silly thing" that Geto Suguru had mentioned earlier: "Besides avenging your mother, when Kurosaki-chan went home to visit her grave, did anything else happen?"

Kurosaki Utsuki paused.

"Could it be that it has something to do with Kurosaki-chan suddenly losing her Shinigami powers that night?"

...quite sharp.

"That's pretty much it," Kurosaki Utsuki replied, omitting some key points and explaining it in general terms. "That night, my family was attacked by Hollows, but luckily, they were saved by the Shinigami. Of course, my family is completely fine. Their injuries have been healed, and their related memories have been erased."

The boy opposite was silent for a moment. He still couldn't accept the idea of ​​erasing other people's memories, but he also knew that this was one of the rules of the Grim Reaper, so he just continued to ask, "Isn't that great?"

Kurosaki Utsuki nodded. "It's great for us." Suddenly, she changed the subject. "But in order to save people, the Shinigami used an illegal method and lost most of her power. Now that her stay has ended, she can't return to Soul Society."

Now Hagiwara Kenji understood: "She is the benefactor who protected her family, but she may face punishment from Soul Society for doing so. So Kurosaki-chan wants to protect her?"

But he still didn't understand something: "But what does this have to do with Kurosaki-chan losing her power? I remember Kurosaki-chan said at the time that she was returning the borrowed items. Does that mean..."

"Your guess may be correct," Kurosaki Utsuki interrupted coldly, and she stopped walking, "but you shouldn't know so much."

Well, actually she wanted to share this secret with him, and wanted to discuss with him how to tell the secret to her brother, the person who should know the most, but... she felt that she should keep her distance from him.

The air almost froze for a moment, and Hagiwara Kenji also stopped, revealing a helpless smile: "If I said something rude, I apologize here first - Kurosaki-chan is angry, is it because of what I said when I refused to confess?"

Kurosaki Utsuki's breathing hitched: "No way!"

Even though that was the case, how could she possibly admit it! Wouldn't that make her seem like she was particularly concerned about who he liked?

But she was more concerned about whether being so close to him would cause trouble for his relationship with his future lover... Although she couldn't say that she didn't think about anything else, but...

But the boy across from her continued, looking down into her eyes, his voice incredibly serious. "Actually, I don't have anyone I want to marry right now. That's mostly just an excuse to refuse a confession," he said. "But I do have someone I desperately want to be friends with."