Chapter 182 Puzzle To him, she was the most difficult puzzle to solve. ...
Kenji Hagiwara didn't know what prophecy was, nor did he know what the Vongola lady was.
As an ordinary person - although the term "explosive police officer" doesn't sound very ordinary - but an ordinary person who had no knowledge of supernatural phenomena before today, the shock he received today was already great enough, so that when he went to find Rei Furuya and asked him to help cover up Asami's abnormality, and heard his colleague say with disgust, "She is the eldest daughter of the world's number one mafia family, there is no need for you to worry about her", Kenji Hagiwara was not very surprised.
He simply said "oh" and turned to look at his blond, dark-skinned classmate. "So, regarding what happened this afternoon, can you help me, Kouya? It's mainly about reporting, since you guys were also involved in today's incident..."
It was as if he had completely ignored the revengeful and disgusted relief that Furiya Rei had just given him.
Jianggu Ling: "…………"
He expressionlessly turned his gaze away from his seemingly doomed colleague and turned to Matsuda, who had also just learned of the situation. The curly-haired officer, who seemed less doomed, still had a look of deep thought on his face, but he didn't look overly shocked.
"After all, that kid is truly unique, so it's not surprising that he has such a hidden background." The latter muttered, pinching his chin. "A Mafia daughter? I thought it would be something even more extraordinary..."
...Hell, their reaction didn't surprise Rei Furuya at all... Was it because he'd been through a similar emotional journey before? Hiro always defended that guy before...
He felt his eyebrows throbbing, and after pinching them, he managed to control his expression. He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "Anyway, that brat does have her own connections. Someone is helping her conceal her special qualities... I'll do my best, too."
After all, no matter what… no matter what, Asagure did save Hagiwara Kenji and an entire police squad today, exposing his special abilities to save them. Furuya Rei wouldn't do something like that. "I'll help too," Morufushi Kagemitsu said without hesitation. "Kogure..."
Before he could finish his words, he received a dangerous look from Xiao Xunran, and he couldn't help but feel helpless: "Zero? You can't always be like this..."
Even though he had admitted in his heart that Kogure wasn't a bad person, he still acted so dishonestly...
"I just think we all need to remain reasonably vigilant—after all, the mystery surrounding her can't be completely dismissed simply by saying she saved Hagi," Furuya Rei said expressionlessly. "Not to mention, she holds both our lives in her hands."
Although the confrontation came to an abrupt end because of the bombing, for both him and Zhu Fushimi, the disclosure of their undercover identities was like a sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head, which could fall to the ground at any time and smash them to death.
Under the serious gazes of his peers, he still played the most ruthless and rational role, as if all the heartbeats and tenderness that had happened to him in the past had never existed. "Regarding Chaomu, we need to revisit everything—everything from the moment you met her. Although the probability of her playing a big game against you and me is low at the moment, there are still many doubts."
Morobushi Kagemitsu pressed his forehead and nodded slightly in agreement. Hagiwara Kenji's expression also grew serious. Even Matsuda, who often clashed with Furuya Rei, didn't mock his suspicions at this moment. After all, for two undercover agents, any slip-up could be fatal.
"Well, let's go through it chronologically," Hagiwara Kenji glanced at his peers and blinked. "The first person I met was probably Ko Asagiri. After the convenience store robbery, she bravely came back to the Metropolitan Police Department to give a statement as a caring citizen..."
"If Hagiwara knew her then, then I might have known her even earlier." Upon hearing this, Zhufu Jingguang hesitated for two seconds, but still continued, "I was at the scene of the convenience store robbery..."
Hagiwara Kenji paused, looking at his colleague with a hint of surprise. The young man with cat eyes met his, his expression seemingly unchanged from usual, as if he were simply sorting out the timeline.
...Is it an illusion?
The young man with semi-long hair raised his eyebrows slightly, barely perceptible, and gestured "please," adjusting the order of speaking. This seemed to be the first time the four of them had been open and honest with each other, sharing information about Chaomu in front of everyone... It always felt a bit awkward.
Since the time they had known Asami was not too long, the timeline went quite smoothly: Asami's encounter with them started with the convenience store robbery, and after meeting Morofushi Kagemitsu, he met Hagiwara Kenji at the Metropolitan Police Department, and through Hagiwara's introduction, he met Matsuda, and finally Furuya Rei.
Furuya Rei didn't want to make any comments on this order - in short, he was quite sure that he should be the most rational one among the four of them when it came to the issue of Asamurai.
When comparing their experiences, both Hagiwara Kenji and Morofushi Kagemitsu naturally omitted unnecessary experiences, simply clarifying their main themes: they spent most of their time working part-time jobs, playing with cats and dogs, and helping old ladies cross the street. They were truly pure people. The only odd part was her insistence on competing with Furuya Rei for the Shimizu family job and collaborating with Morofushi Kagemitsu, but that can be explained by her genuine lack of money.
"Xiao Chaomu was indeed under great financial pressure at the time. My impression is that she was working part-time jobs almost all the time, working until midnight every day." During that period, Hagiwara was in the most frequent contact with her, and a glance at the chat logs reveals them. "It was only after she took on the cleaning work for those wealthy ladies that she was able to afford to treat Matsuda and me to dinner, and her situation seemed to have improved a lot."
The loser in that competition, Hei Lian, had a blank expression on his face, pretending not to hear... No, he didn't fail either, after all, Hiro had taken his job and sneaked in at that time... He just gave in strategically.
In their shared memories, the image of Chaomu can be said to be quite unified.
Hagiwara: "Cute, kind, hardworking, very motivated, in short, there are almost no shortcomings. Xiao Chaomu is perfect! Eh? Speaking of that special preference for trash cans? That must be a muscle memory left over from a difficult past. I should make up for it in the days to come-"
Zhu Fu: "He's a kind child, works diligently and responsibly, and works very hard. Although his ideas are a little... sometimes, he's a good child."
Furuya Rei had little intention of referring to what these two people said, especially Hagiwara's... He looked like he'd completely fallen in love and lost his judgment. He turned his gaze to Matsuda, who seemed to be the most neutral, and waited for him to speak.
Matsuda Jinpei: “…………?”
He was inexplicably irritated by his peers' strange, "We're on the same side, aren't we?" looks, but he couldn't explain why. He simply gave up thinking and got back to the point: "Even though Hagi was corny, most of what he said was similar to my impression. That kid isn't a bad person, he's just a little weird sometimes..."
For example, some behaviors, such as physical fitness - but these problems can now be explained by the reason that "she is not ordinary, she is a girl from a mafia family."
And what happened today...
For some reason, Matsuda Jinpei skipped the topic. A subtle memory still lingered in his mind, a memory of her having promised him something, and having fulfilled it in the end... But that vague memory, of a girl crying in his arms, was strange and embarrassing, and he instinctively didn't want his peers to know.
"So she most likely only recently connected with the Vongola family," he concluded. "Otherwise, there's no reason why her situation would be so different... They say she's a young lady, but what exactly is her status?"
Regarding this issue, Furuya Rei and Morobushi Kagemitsu had some speculations about it after knowing the truth.
"She might not be the current leader's child. The current tenth-generation leader seems quite young, so the age doesn't match. If she is, she's more likely the leader's sister," said Furuya Rei. "It's also possible that she's the daughter of another high-ranking official, a very important one... perhaps a descendant of the previous leader."
"Perhaps she already had a connection to the Vongola, but it wasn't acknowledged at first." Zhu Fushimi added, "After all, in the world of the Mafia, if there's a blood relationship but she's stranded..."
The probability of an illegitimate daughter with Vongola blood being suddenly recognized and returning to the family one day is quite high, otherwise it would be difficult to explain everything that happened to Chaomu before - she had indeed had a very difficult life in the past ten years.
"Living away..." Hagiwara Kenji chewed over the word with mixed feelings, "Little Chaomu..."
If that were true, then her previous predicament made sense. An unrecognized child, struggling to survive alone in a foreign country, until an opportunity arose to bring her back to her family...
...Have her family treated her well? Why was she suddenly recognized and returned to the family? They had clearly ignored her for the past ten years... He wanted to ask her, but was afraid to open her wounds. He could only quietly think about the future in his heart - fortunately, they had a long time to go on, and he had plenty of time to slowly understand everything about her.
"It seems that we can already reach a preliminary conclusion on the topic we originally wanted to discuss." Zhu Fujingguang looked at his young son Xunran, who had a complicated expression on his face, and patted his shoulder. "Zero, you don't have to be like this... You're under too much pressure."
—Asami isn't a bad person and can be trusted. For various reasons, the three of them had reached the same conclusion, leaving only Furuya Rei to remain silent.
Moruofushi Jingguang didn't think there was anything wrong with Furuya Rei's suspicions. Asami and Asami were unfamiliar with each other and often in a state of antagonism, and with the many mysteries surrounding her, it was understandable that he would be anxious.
"...I know," the blond young man sighed under the comfort of Xiao Xunran and pressed his forehead, "I just feel..."
He wanted to confirm with Hagiwara and Matsuda not only the safety of Asami's past actions, but also the strange feeling he had this afternoon. He and Hiro had already reconciled their accounts, and both believed that they had experienced several strange hallucinations of something very subtle, so they wanted to confirm it with Hagiwara, the person involved.
And now...
His eyes met with those of the other two, and they both saw a tacit understanding in each other's eyes. The topic of time loops and reincarnation was too sensitive. Out of protection for Asami and other hidden concerns, neither Hagiwara Kenji nor Matsuda Jinpei mentioned it.
It seemed that what he had said was enough - even if Rei Furuya forced himself to stay rational and think from the perspective of public security, he could not change his heart... Deep down, he was on the same side as them.
"I understand." He finally compromised. "From a personal perspective, I believe she has no ill intentions. It's just that as a Vongola lady, she will inevitably receive a lot of attention... Hagiwara, you should understand this, right?"
He didn't mention anything special about her personally, only that he had promised to help keep her special abilities secret regarding the Vongola.
This was a huge concession, practically violating Rei Furuya's bottom line and code of conduct as a police officer. When he said this, Hagiwara practically breathed a sigh of relief. Matsuda's tense shoulders also relaxed a little.
"I understand," he replied, his lips curling up slightly. "After all, it's inevitable to pay more attention to those ancient, shady families that usually only appear in movies. From what you said before, where you and Komorobushi are now... will they have any connection with her?"
Jianggu Ling: "…………"
Thinking of the young lady falling from the sky, he and Xiao Xunran exchanged a look, and saw some helplessness in each other's eyes: "I'm fine, it's mainly Hiro..."
"It's just a sparring partner. Xiao Mu shouldn't be too..." Zhu Fu Jingguang coughed lightly, "In short, it shouldn't be a big problem."
The two colleagues were not advised to have too deep an understanding of the organization, so they stopped talking about the topic at that point; Kenji Hagiwara did not ask any further questions - even though he was indeed a little concerned about this "sparring partner".
He always felt that he and she were already familiar enough, but there were still many mysteries that had not been solved... This seemed to give him a "legitimate" reason to stare at her openly, looking at her a little more, and looking at her a little more...
…I want to see her. Even if we’ve only been apart for a few hours, I still want to see her.
He wanted to know what she was like in the part that Komorobushi unconsciously concealed and in their encounter... He wanted to understand all of her aspects more deeply.
Such thoughts kept circling in his mind unreasonably, until he saw that figure at the door of the ramen shop, Hagiwara Kenji's mood was slightly relieved.
"Xiao Chaomu—have you been waiting long?" He quickened his pace, almost trotting to his side, his brows arched, "Sorry, sorry, I have some other work matters..."
His running posture was reserved yet eager, a bit like the girls' run in Japanese dramas. Matsuda Jinpei stared at his back with disdain, but his own pace wasn't slow at all.
Two tall men approached, blocking the light from the shop. Chaomu snapped back from packing his backpack and looked up at them, instinctively feeling a bit of resentment towards the player character's height. "It wasn't long. I just got here too."
It would be nice if I could grow a little taller. Can I still grow after I turn nineteen?
The thought only flashed through her mind. She shook her head, threw the unimportant information aside, and glanced up and down at her two trophy NPCs again: Very good, one is still alive, without any missing limbs, and the other is not crying. Today's death flag should be completely pulled out. Win.
"It's cold, and you don't even know to go in and wait? You're just standing outside like an idiot." Matsuda noticed that she was wearing her classic gray hoodie again, and he tutted softly. He wrapped her in his arms and pushed her into the shop. "And didn't Hagi and I buy you some clothes? Why aren't you wearing them?"
"Oh, you didn't even put on a scarf!" Hagiwara Kenji was on her right side, almost touching her, and reached out to pinch her cold earlobe. "Are you catching a cold, little Chaomu? If you're sick, you need a shot."
"I'm in good health, I won't catch a cold." The player, sandwiched between two NPCs, walked inside wrapped up, and replied as if nothing had happened. "Wearing that kind of outfit for an occasion like today... the clothes will be a little worn, but I'd wear them normally."
Hagihara Kenji's heart softened.
The clothes he and Matsuda bought her weren't cheap for them, costing them more than half a month's salary. But for Asami, now a Vongola lady, these were small matters... But she still cherished his gift so childishly...
He really did treat her...
To Chaomu, she was simply telling the truth. She'd discovered that the skins she'd bought from the store and the ones she'd bought from the original store had no wear and tear, meaning they wouldn't get dirty or damaged. However, the skins given to her by Hagiwara and Reborn had damage strips—she'd just discovered that the lace edge of her "Mistress" outfit had been snagged by the spikes on her Skylark Floating Crane.
Repairing the damage sounded like a chore, so Chaomu naturally wanted to take better care of the exterior. She sat down at the table, glanced at the menu, and expertly ordered: "I want a large portion of fried shrimp dumplings, a thick tonkotsu ramen with pork cartilage, extra-thick chashu pork, and pudding dango ice cream. Tonight, Matsuda and Hagiwara-kun will play rock-paper-scissors to decide who's paying."
"You're such a big eater, kid... You're still eating so much at this hour." Matsuda was slightly surprised, but still helped her add, "Add another serving of fried chicken nuggets."
"After all, Asamure-chan is today's hero, so it's only natural that he's a little late," Hagiwara Kenji said without any principles. "If you want to pay, I'll do it."
It doesn't matter who pays the bill, we eat as much as we want in the morning and evening.
She had put in a lot of effort to fulfill the agreement to have a midnight snack together, and this was the reward she deserved for the task.
Not just a midnight snack, but also...
On the way back, Matsuda went to a convenience store to buy cigarettes. Hagiwara Kenji, who had semi-quit smoking since Asamura moved in, waited outside with Asamura.
There was no one around, and Chaomu was ready to make a move. She followed Hagiwara, hooked the corner of his clothes, and when he turned around obediently and lowered his head, she stood on tiptoe and asked in his ear: "So, Hagiwara-kun, does the 'commitment to me' you said this afternoon still count?"
This is a must-have benefit for players! She had to confirm it again - she was so excited that even if there was no pet column, she would definitely collect some interest first!
-----------------------
The author has something to say: Updates will be made as normal tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.
I'm getting ready to move this week (vomiting soul)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
