Chapter 20
I left in such a hurry that I didn't even have time to change out of my hospital gown.
Rina had no choice but to change into casual clothes in the parking lot restroom.
She wore a simple white short-sleeved shirt, paired with blue denim shorts, her long hair was loose, and she wore a black baseball cap.
However, because of the injury on his hand, he wasted a lot of time.
Kurosawa Shiran leaned back in her seat, waiting in the car.
In fact, he really dislikes waiting for people, and even if he has a lot of patience, he will not tolerate those people wasting his time.
As previously agreed, a finger would be cut off for every minute of lateness.
But if it's waiting for his sister, he seems willing to wait indefinitely.
When Rina arrived at the parking lot, she was holding a bottle of chilled soda, so she must have gone to a convenience store.
Kurosawa Shiran looked the person up and down carefully through the car window. "Is it inappropriate for you to be dressed like this, sister?"
He blurted out something out of nowhere.
After Rina got into the car, she looked up and met his gaze. "Are you an antique that just crawled out of an ancient tomb?"
Kurosawa Toki said seriously, "I always felt that old man Kawashima Hideo had ulterior motives."
"........"
Rina remained silent for a while, and the SUV had already driven out of the parking lot.
She said, "Let's go to the Hai Ri Opera House."
Kurosawa Shiran, after a moment's thought, turned the steering wheel: "Going to the opera, is my sister going on a date with me?"
Rina caught the teasing in his words and turned her head to look at the scenery outside the window. "You want to see it?"
Kurosawa Shiran couldn't see her expression. "I can stay with my sister forever."
Rina casually remarked, "Tickets for the opera house need to be booked a month in advance."
“I know the theater owner there,” Kurosawa Shiran glanced at the confusion in her eyes and patiently explained, “I killed her husband.”
Rina: ""
She felt a little dizzy and closed her eyes, saying, "Today's performance is Romeo and Juliet."
Kurosawa Shiran felt that she had misunderstood something, but if she continued talking, she would definitely get annoyed.
What is that opera about?
Rina didn't want to answer the question: "Nothing, I'm just bored."
Kurosawa Shiran asked curiously, "Hey, can you tell me about it, sister? I want to see."
“Okay,” Rina paused, lifting her eyelids to glance at him, “on the condition that you first tell me, what exactly is your relationship with Kaon?”
Kurosawa Shiran touched her chin somewhat awkwardly, "How much does my sister know about Mrs. Kawashima?"
Rina: "We haven't been in much contact since high school. I went to London, and then some things happened."
Kurosawa Shiran seemed to be watching her every expression closely, and said with a sigh, "It must have been many years since we last met."
Rina frowned slightly.
Kurosawa Shiran continued to argue with her: "Sister, everyone changes, right?"
Rina remained silent, her face cold.
Kurosawa Shiran glanced at her furtively, then decided to lay the groundwork: "I don't know much about Natsume Kanon before, but Mrs. Kawashima is really a weak woman. You should have already realized that she was just putting on a strong facade in front of you."
During her marriage, she constantly compared herself to Hideo Kawashima's two previous wives, and she found that the differences in their family backgrounds and wealth only made her feel extremely inferior.
This, coupled with the indifferent attitude of some people in her family, made her even more vulnerable.
Besides constantly questioning her own abilities, Natsume Kanon also became unable to accept praise from others. She fell into an indescribable anxiety, began to avoid contact and interaction with people, and lost interest in everything.
This is a symptom of depression.
Her condition was clearly very serious.
Rina did know about this, but there was no way around it; facing reality always required courage. "Stop talking nonsense."
As soon as he finished speaking, he realized he had gone too far with his tone. He rubbed the bridge of his nose to calm himself down and pointed to the side of the road. "Stop the car first."
Kurosawa Shiran obediently did as she was told. After turning off the engine, she got out of the car with her, looking extremely aggrieved and upset. "Sister, this is really a misunderstanding. Can you forgive me first?"
A hint of anxiety appeared on Rina's face: "You go first."
“I… my sister knows too, I have amnesia,” Kurosawa Shiran said with a troubled expression. “I just wanted to find that memory, but unexpectedly, by chance, I met Mrs. Kawashima at the party. She felt a little familiar to me, and I mistook her for my sister. So I secretly followed her to the villa, intending to test her, but because the mafia always caused trouble, I left for a while. At that time, I didn’t know what depression was. I would just greet Mrs. Kawashima briefly when I occasionally saw her, or she would ask me to do some small favors, such as digging some yellow soil in the mountains or picking some wildflowers. After that, nothing else. I didn’t mean anything by it, but Mrs. Kawashima misunderstood.”
Rina looked at him quietly, her eyelids trembling.
For some reason, his narration felt like listening to a TV drama plot, without any sense of reality.
Kurosawa Shiran: "After that, she called me over to the back garden, asked me to drink with her, and asked if I could take her away."
She also expressed her feelings.
"But I already knew she wasn't the one I was looking for, so I rejected her outright."
He originally intended to kill her outright, but later learned of a clue and, out of kindness, spared her life.
Thinking about it carefully, he didn't do anything wrong, did he?
Why apologize?
Rina took a deep breath and said, "Stay away from me from now on."
Kurosawa Shiran looked at her incredulously, "Huh, sister?"
Rina turned and left, leaving him standing there.
Kurosawa Shiran's eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a hint of fierceness.
The next moment, he grabbed her wrist, pinned her against the car, and said in a low voice, "I told you, this has nothing to do with me."
A tall figure loomed over her.
Lina was caught off guard by his actions, and her body stiffened, not reacting for a moment.
But my back hurt terribly from the impact.
One of her arms was draped around her neck, while the other was pressed against her lower abdomen, leaving her completely immobile.
The two stood silently facing each other on the side of the road for half a minute.
Passing cars rolled down their windows and whistled at them; some even made a few teasing remarks.
"Go kiss her!"
Lina felt a little embarrassed, turned her head away, and said, "Let go."
However, the arm blocking her way had prominent veins, and even through the fabric, one could feel the boy's vibrant life force and the danger emanating from him, like that of a ferocious beast.
Rina suddenly remembered the first time she fired a gun. Not only did she miss the target, she also twisted her wrist. Her combat ability was negative, so she never fought with anyone.
Kurosawa Shiran pondered for a moment, gave a wry smile, leaned down, and said in a gentle tone, "I just hope that my sister won't leave someone here alone."
As he spoke, he tightened his grip on Rina's hand slightly, and the warm breath he exhaled from his mouth and nose scalded her.
Forced to turn around, Rina, having failed with one plan, devised another: "You've mistaken me for someone else..."
Kurosawa Shiran smiled, opened the car door, and shoved the person inside.
The morbid excitement from before has vanished without a trace.
Rina, sitting in the passenger seat, scrutinized the person again and said irritably, "Watch where you're going, don't look at me."
Kurosawa Shiran blinked innocently.
He never expected that his emotions would spiral out of control for even a moment, let alone that he would resort to violence.
After all, we can find her even if we let her go.
But being left standing there, watching her walk away, was unbearable.
After all, something like this has happened before.
Rina Natsume threw him into hell.
Both of them fell silent.
Kurosawa Shiran thought for a moment, then said hesitantly, "Sister, I want to see an opera."
Her voice even had a hint of ingratiation.
Rina: "Let's go see."
Kurosawa Shiran: "I want you to be with me."
Rina: "Impossible."
Kurosawa Shiran: "Sister, can you please not be so cold to me?"
“”
Rina didn't want to talk to him, and got out of the car when they arrived at their destination.
Takase had been waiting at the theater entrance for a long time. It was probably the first time he had seen the real Natsume Rina, and he was a little dazed for a moment.
He sighed softly, "Miss Natsume, the president is already waiting inside."
Despite having the same appearance, their different experiences and personalities result in different auras.
Rina looked around, then followed him into the theater.
The two walked around the lounge and went to the back to wait for the elevator. After a few minutes, the elevator doors opened.
After Takase went inside, he pressed the button for the second basement level and whispered, "I already know about Junichi Takahashi. She's a member of the mafia."
“The police found your glasses and some small items like buttons among her personal belongings,” Rina turned to look at him. “As for the motive, we only have her own confession, but she’s already dead.”
Takase found it hard to believe.
In conclusion, it is highly likely that Junichi Takahashi harbored a desire for revenge because he was with Myoko. "She... killed Myoko because of that?"
Rina: "There are huge differences between people; love and hate are just a thought away."
It was 3 p.m.
Hideo Kawashima stood in front of Rina, his expression as usual.
He glanced at the time and said, "It's all over now. We didn't need to meet, but I received an anonymous letter, and I guess you probably received one too."
The bodyguard took a letter out of his briefcase and handed it to Rina.
Hideo Kawashima calmly said, "I've already seen it. Can you explain?"
“Three years ago, Xiangyin was diagnosed with depression at a clinic. She took medication for more than a year, but it didn’t work.” Rina took out an evidence bag and medical records from her coat pocket. “Three of the pearls in this pearl necklace have been replaced and mixed with chemicals, which will worsen her condition.”
Hideo Kawashima flipped through the medical record in his hand, his fingers trembling slightly: "This is the necklace I gave you. What does it have to do with the photo?"
Rina: "When the illness is severe, hallucinations can occur."
"Hallucination?" Hideo Kawashima slumped onto the sofa, his emotions finally overwhelmed. After a long pause, he forced a strained smile. "Is this your explanation? You're saying she mistook someone else for someone else, so she slept with another man? Do you believe that?"
Rina felt conflicted and could only remain silent.
Just then, the phone rang.
Without even checking her phone for a call, she gestured to Takase and left the room.
Kurosawa Shiran sat alone on a bench in the theater, making three phone calls but no one answered.
I thought I had been abandoned again.
Lina silently walked up behind him, holding a cup of ice-cold milk tea and pressing it against his face.
Kurosawa Shiran looked up and stared straight at her.
Rina: "I bought it for you."
A faint ripple stirred within Kurosawa Shiran's heart.
He paused for a moment, then took Rina's fingers and gently kissed them. "Sister."
It was still daytime, and there were quite a few people queuing at the theater entrance. Kurosawa Shiran was already attracting a lot of attention by sitting there, and now with this action, even the little girl waiting in line to have her ticket checked almost screamed.
"Ahhh, I want a sweet romance too!!!"
Lina remained calm and composed: "Something unexpected happened."
Kurosawa Shiran took the cup of milk tea and unconsciously swallowed. "What's wrong?"
Rina: "Kazumi has gotten into trouble again. Take me to the Lilac Gallery."
Kurosawa Shiran: "...Hmm."
He silently put away the opera house movie ticket and asked, "What happened?"
Rina sighed helplessly, "The client called and said she saw Kazumi and her husband acting inappropriately."
Kurosawa Shiran thought to herself: Why didn't I blow her up back then?
Wasn't she there to investigate a case?
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