Chapter 102: No bottom line! History always repeats itself...
"A-choo!"
Toru Amuro sneezed on the street.
The white light from the convenience store cast a shadow on his profile. He rubbed his nose in confusion, his brows furrowed slightly. "Is it a cold?... I don't seem to have any other symptoms..."
The convenience store was bustling with people, and the blond young man who paused stood out in the crowd. Though he paused only for a few seconds, quite a few young women cast their gazes at him. He lowered the brim of his baseball cap, carrying his bag, and walked to the curb, away from the glare and back into the shadows.
At this point in time, he should have been working at [Ye Ying], interacting with the ladies and gathering information.
But just a few days ago, after the "accident" at the Watanabe family, the investigation and surveillance of Congressman Fujita had been stopped by Rum, so Toru Amuro no longer had to continue working in this job and naturally quit his gigolo job.
Recalling the series of events that happened at the Watanabe family that day, and thinking of the defused bomb, the mysterious hamster that disappeared, and the dangerous chairman of the Discipline Foundation, the blond young man still has many questions that remain unanswered.
Compared to those conspiracies that can be explained by science, the strange hamster that has never appeared again is what he cares about most - could the bomb disposal be related to the hamster? If not, who was the one who quietly dismantled five bombs in a very short time...?
Even though several days have passed and Toru Amuro has successfully obtained a code name after completing another mission, this incident still lingers in his mind.
For some reason, that weird hamster gave him a feeling a bit like that young girl who had a good relationship with his three friends from the same period, but exuded an inexplicably suspicious temperament.
This association actually has no basis, but Toru Amuro just feels this way.
His long-trained experience and intuition told him that this strange girl, whose route was very similar to his, was definitely not a good person and was definitely hiding an unknown secret.
He discussed this speculation tactfully with his childhood friend and Matsuda Hagiwara, and their answers to her were both "Asami/little Asami is a good child."
It is precisely because of the reactions of his friends and childhood friends that Toru Amuro becomes more wary of Asagi.
He frowned slightly, his mind and eyes filled with the mystery surrounding her - was he the only one who noticed something was wrong with her? Why didn't Hiro realize that Chaomu's behavior didn't conform to the logic of an ordinary worker, but rather had a strong purpose...?
Even after receiving his reminder, Hagiwara and Matsuda still showed no regard for her...
The aroma of miso broth wafted from the hot pot restaurant on the street. Amuro Toru, who hadn't had dinner yet, instinctively followed the scent to its source, but his eyes suddenly froze.
...That woman is... Asami? In public, she's holding Hagiwara's hand and touching him...?
And Matsuda too…why is she holding Matsuda’s hand too??? What are the two of them doing…is this even appropriate???
"So, how long are you going to keep doing this... holding hands like this?" Matsuda Jinpei sat upright, trying to convey his resistance. "And you're still eating out? This... is this decent...?"
"It's just a palm reading, what's wrong with that?" Chaomu glanced at him innocently. "Matsuda-kun, your remarks are so old-fashioned."
Having said that, she still considerately let go of his hand and instead carefully held Hagiwara Kenji's palm with both of hers: "Let me see Hagiwara-kun's..."
“…You can’t even look at Hagi’s!” Although his hand was released, Matsuda Jinpei still didn’t look very happy.
The corner of his eye twitched as he watched the young girl pinching his tender hand, and said in an inexplicable tone: "Hagi, don't be so permissive..."
Hagiwara Kenji let the girl play with her fingers, smiling: "I'm just curious about what Xiao Chaomu can tell from my palm... After all, she has already checked it for you, and I think it's quite accurate. Can you show it to me too, Xiao Chaomu?"
In the eyes of Matsuda Jinpei, his smile was simply unprincipled. The latter folded his arms and snorted coldly, looking down on the look of Yu Junran.
Hagiwara's hands were a circle larger than Asami's. She conscientiously played the role of a charlatan, poking and pinching here and there, her fingertips touching the thin calluses on his palms: "Let me see... Hmm, Hagiwara-kun is the type who has a double harvest in career and love, and his life line is super long-"
Her fingers moved restlessly, causing Hagiwara's fingertips to curl slightly. Those slender, fair fingers delicately grasped hers, and the corners of his lips curled up slightly. He squeezed briefly and then released, letting her hold his hand: "That's so nice."
"It will definitely heal." Chaomu was quite certain of his judgment. "Such a beautiful hand, how could it not heal?"
With such a high level of detail in his modeling, Kenji Hagiwara is definitely the game's cash cow. Which planner/writer would be willing to let him die so early? There must be a ton of storylines to go around.
Jinpei Matsuda felt like he was being completely targeted.
Why is it that when this kid looks at him, he says, "You must like big sisters," but when he looks at Hagiwara, he looks at both personality and career, and says only good things—is this biased? Is this biased?
Rather than being partial... it's more like skilled flirting.
As Asamure's rival, Toru Amuro has a better understanding of this seemingly simple little bastard.
Although Chaomu is straightforward most of the time and prefers to use strength and involution to decide the outcome, Amuro Toru, who has seen her curry favor with noble ladies, is naturally aware of her talents in certain areas - damn it, is Hagiwara completely bewitched by her?
Although his classmate was popular with the opposite sex and seemed to be very close to girls, it was the first time he saw her allowing a member of the opposite sex to manipulate her hands with an indulgent smile in her eyes.
That brat too... When we first met face to face, he seemed so clueless and unmoved, but now, holding Hagiwara's hand, he's actually so good at coaxing people...
The blond young man was squeezing the plastic bag in his hand, making it rustle. He was worried that if he stayed too long, people would notice something was wrong. After hesitating for two seconds, he decided to step into the store. He chose a seat in a corner as inconspicuously as possible and tried to eavesdrop.
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't completely relax... When he first discovered Asami walking with two of his classmates, he had actually briefly explained his subtle suspicions about her to Hagiwara and the others. At that time, they both didn't take it seriously, and like Hiro, they even told him not to be too suspicious.
Are they all idiots? That kid has suspicion written all over his face, right? Whose good kid loves rummaging through trash cans, has some strange connections... and is so good at coaxing people!
Amuro Toru quietly took his seat behind them, completely unaware of his presence. He gritted his teeth, thinking, Matsuda and Hagiwara, were being too lax... couldn't they even detect he was eavesdropping? Is this how they work as police officers?
Matsuda certainly hadn't noticed—he was expressionlessly pondering how to change the subject away from palmistry... Couldn't Hagi have just taken the initiative to pull his hand back? Why was he still letting someone pinch him like that?
Before he could figure it out, Chaomu's divination class had already returned to the love segment.
"I feel like with Hagiwara-kun's personality, he might also like that kind of strong older sister." She scratched his palm lines and analyzed seriously, "After all, he's the type who seems to be a playboy but actually needs someone to protect him. That kind of proactive and passionate girl might be able to perfectly capture your heart—"
Hagiwara Kenji coughed lightly, but didn't say anything good or bad. But Asami clearly didn't care about his opinion. Speaking of his older sister, he thought of Matsuda again: "Matsuda, you too..."
Matsuda was troubled by the topic of love and was quick-witted. He almost instantly thought of how to change the subject.
"Speaking of bombs... the five time bombs at Watanabe's house that day seemed to have been defused within ten to twenty minutes." He kept a straight face, pretending to be a veteran police officer who loved his work even after work and didn't understand romance. "Taking into account the time it took to move between rooms, the mysterious person who defused the bombs was undoubtedly very skilled."
His original intention was to use this topic to divert Chaomu's attention, and it was indeed successful - the mysterious bomb disposal man himself quietly pricked up his ears and no longer wanted to talk about love.
Hagiwara Kenji also knew that he was probably being pushed too far, so he smiled helplessly and considerately continued with his topic, "Indeed, this technique is almost on par with yours, Xiao Zhenping, right? There's a rumor in the group that if they knew his identity, they'd try to recruit this mysterious person."
"If we can successfully recruit him, he'd be a real asset." Matsuda crossed his arms. "That person's abilities surpass those of most members of the Explosive Virgin Squad, but I don't know where he came from..."
Hagiwara was a little frustrated by his words: "Zhenping-kun...you can't say that in the office, okay?"
"Tsk, I know... I was just saying it casually."
Isn't that on par with Matsuda Jinpei? Chaomu was using the Matsuda Jinpei trial card after all.
She knew the whole story, but pretended to be a bystander, speaking in a very neutral manner: "That mysterious man is amazing. He defused the bomb in just over ten minutes. That sounds pretty cool."
Seeing the two active explosives officers looking at her at the same time, she immediately offered her help: "As good as Hagiwara-kun and Matsuda-kun."
Only then did Matsuda reluctantly reveal a satisfied expression.
Amuro Toru, who was standing behind him, overheard the whole thing, his eyebrows twitching slightly. He'd been hoping Matsuda would be more reasonable... but he hadn't expected Matsuda to be so easy to appease? He was so happy with just a few compliments... where was this guy's bottom line?
The easily coaxed Matsuda-kun sneezed and continued on. "Those bombs were incredibly ingeniously constructed. The man who defused them all in such a short time must have possessed exceptional skill and mentality. If it hadn't been for him, the casualties that day might have been substantial."
"The struggle among chaebol families is really fierce..." Hagiwara Kenji sighed. Seeing that Chaomu's face was full of curiosity and his eyebrows were slightly curved, he still said a few simple words.
Chaomu heard this version of the story: the eldest daughter was very cunning and attacked her own brother to fight for the inheritance; a righteous passerby thwarted the conspiracy and deduced the truth but lacked actual evidence; the angry young master was so angry that his teeth itched, but he could only remain silent because the other party seemed to have some secret handle in his hand, and the police intervened but the matter was dropped under pressure from the chaebol.
Hagiwara Kenji described the situation vividly, shrugging at the end. "So, in truth, Jinpei-kun and I didn't fully understand the full story... and then all of us little police officers were driven away."
Matsuda was clearly quite dissatisfied with the subsequent events, snorting softly, "That group of consortiums simply didn't take the police seriously. They'd rather have bodyguards or mercenaries handle the case—though the people from the Discipline Consortium who came to seal off the scene did seem to have a higher level of overall character than the police."
"Xiao Zhenping."
"……knew."
Although what he said was indeed very pertinent, Toru Amuro, who was standing behind him, still frowned. If he hadn't wanted to hide his identity, he would have argued with Matsuda about this issue.
Chaomu was not interested in evaluating the basic qualities of the Japanese police - she cared a little about the "righteous passerby" they mentioned.
When she left the scene, a certain black-faced guy seemed to be active... That passerby couldn't be him.
She was about to ask Hagiwara for more details when she suddenly had a flash of inspiration and glanced at the list of nearby NPCs. She saw a familiar name on the store's small map. It looked like it was just behind her...
Chaomu suddenly turned around and saw the familiar golden hair.
Across the table, Amuro Toru, who was pretending to eat hot pot with his head down, froze imperceptibly. Through the rising mist, his gray-purple eyes met hers, the tips of his chopsticks, stained with soy sauce, still dangling in mid-air.
For a moment, his back suddenly stiffened, like a Siamese cat whose tail was stepped on: as Chaomu turned around, his two classmates also noticed his presence and almost at the same time cast strange looks at him, asking "What are you doing here?"
He originally wanted to pretend that he didn't know them - after all, he and Chaomu didn't have a harmonious relationship that required them to greet each other, and the girl probably didn't want to see him at all; the two classmates of the same class should draw a clear line with him and pretend not to know him.
But Chaomu did not want to ignore his destined enemy - the evil little black face.
After not seeing him for a few days, this guy seemed to be sleeping soundly and eating well, with a face full of happiness - he was not living in the shadow of the Hamster Emperor at all!
"Hey, isn't this Xiao Hei... Amuro-kun?" She spoke to him first, her tone rather sarcastic, "Shouldn't you be... at work at this hour? Why aren't you curling up today?"
Toru Amuro: "…………"
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The author has something to say: Because my work and rest schedule is too abstract and the condition is ridiculously bad, I have been forcing myself to adjust it these past two days (but still failed), to see if I can adjust the update time back to around 9 to 10 pm.
Will I feel better if I go to bed early and get up early? I think so... I don’t want to continue the North American lifestyle and stay up late at night... My period hasn’t come for two months...!
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