Chapter 2020 Going to the scene of the crime
"Why do you want to become stronger?"
I opened my eyes, only to be met with pitch blackness. My hands, body, even my face were pressed against the cold ground, yet I couldn't move. It felt like a thousand-pound weight was weighing me down, like I was trapped in a pool of icy water. Even breathing was difficult.
"Under this old man's spiritual pressure, you can't even speak, girl?"
There was no time to think about what "reiatsu" was, and a strong feeling of unwillingness suddenly arose in my heart.
"I'm... too weak...!" My throat ached like it had been scraped, and even my voice was hoarse, but even so, I still used all my strength to shout into the dark void. "I can't even... protect... the important people... and I can't even... keep up with him!"
I summoned all my strength, supported myself with my hands, and struggled to get up. "I don't want to see them get hurt." For some reason, my breathing gradually became easier, and even my speech became smoother. "I need strength!"
The pitch-black vision suddenly became bright, and I squinted my eyes subconsciously. In my blurred vision, there was an unclear tall figure.
"...Then let me see your awareness."
Along with the old man's voice, thunder was heard in the distance.
No, that's not right, that wasn't thunder.
[Wake up——]
【Wake up and call——】
[Call my name——]
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"Humura?! Ms. Akiko, Homura is almost waking up!"
"That chirping is so annoying! I told you she'd be fine."
I heard noisy voices and someone held my hand tightly.
"Humura..."
It's the voice of Jinghua.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw a very unfamiliar ceiling. It seemed like someone was standing nearby. I turned my head slightly and saw Jinghua holding my hand, standing by the bed.
Besides her, there was Atsushi-kun and a new short-haired woman who seemed to be a member of the detective agency, but I only saw her once when I first went to the agency.
"See, I told her she would be fine." The short-haired sister waved her hand impatiently, then said, "I'm going out, call me if you need anything." Then she left the room without looking back.
"Oh, it seems our Sleeping Beauty has woken up." Mr. Mori Ogai suddenly appeared at the other end of the bed. "Good morning, Miss Jiu Jing."
Morning……?
Ten minutes later, I climbed out of bed in my hospital gown and learned the whole story from Atsushi and Jinghua.
"...So I almost died after I fell into a coma?"
"yes……"
"Your internal organs ruptured, and you lost too much blood and went into shock," Jinghua said, glancing at Mr. Mori who was sitting beside him. "When we arrived, your heartbeat was already very weak."
"Hey, don't be so hostile! I didn't do anything to this lovely little guest." Mr. Mori Ogai smiled. The official who had come to track down my father, whom I had met once before, stood beside him with a stern expression. "Although you've changed your last name, Miss Kyujo is still Mr. Hongo's beloved niece, right, Dazai-kun?"
Only then did I notice Mr. Dazai. He was standing not far away, studying the painting on the wall. "...Well, that's true. It's rather troublesome that she died in the office of the Port Mafia boss." I then noticed that the place I was lying in didn't look like a hospital room, but more like someone's bedroom. "Otherwise, you wouldn't have contacted the president."
"Well... well..." I cautiously extended my hand, interrupting the tense conversation. "So what exactly happened to me?"
————The room was filled with silence.
Uh... eh? I... I didn't say anything wrong, did I? But I really don't know what happened to me! I seemed to call out the name of the girl in my dream, and then I suddenly felt very uncomfortable, suffocated, and even vomited blood. Wait, why did I change my clothes too?
"Seeing her like this, I don't doubt she's the culprit in the disappearance anymore." The short, hatted young man, I think his name was Nakahara Chuuya. He smacked his lips, crossed his arms, and stood behind Mr. Mori, looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "First it was kidnapping, now it's involved in a crime, and now you're dying for unknown reasons... Aren't you just too unlucky?"
“…Actually, I think so too.”
Seriously, I've been having a bit too much bad luck lately. I was planning to take this opportunity to go back to Honmaru and show everyone if I'm cursed, but that's also gone too far.
It was Mr. Mori Ogai who finally answered my question. "While you were talking to me, your internal organs suddenly ruptured and caused heavy bleeding." He skillfully pulled out a stethoscope from his clothes.
Wait, why does the leader of the Port Mafia carry a stethoscope?
"Do you mind if I do a little manipulation? Don't look at me like this, I used to be a doctor."
"Eh?! No, why not let Dr. Yosano—"
"Atsushi-kun, forget it." Mr. Dazai stopped Nakajima Atsushi and raised his chin slightly. "The other party is the person involved and knows more clearly."
...Is this an illusion? The atmosphere feels so subdued! It's so oppressive, like that chest tightness and shortness of breath before a thunderstorm, as if a thunderclap is about to sound in the next second.
Uh...it makes me a little nervous!
However, just as Mr. Mori was checking my heartbeat with his stethoscope, Mr. Dazai's phone suddenly rang. He glanced at it and then hung up. "It seems there's progress with Kunikida-kun. Just as we expected."
"Mr. Dazai, that means...!"
"Yes, Atsushi-kun, we have found the criminal's lair."
So fast?! Wait, doesn't that mean if we just rush over and catch him, everything will be revealed?!
"Um...are you going to the scene? If so, please take me with you."
My sixth sense told me that if I missed this opportunity, I might lose the chance to know the truth about my past forever. "It might be dangerous, but I must see that person!"
In an instant, all the events of the past few days flashed through my mind: the person who had been killed by me in the dream but came back to life, those scenes, the boy who looked like Toushirou, and even the waves of calls.
I want to know the truth.
"Even if it disrupts your peaceful life now?"
I clenched my fists and looked directly at the brown-haired young man who came to the bedside: "Yes."
It was then that I suddenly noticed the subtle discrepancy. Dazai-san, like everyone else at the detective agency, usually had a smile on his face and loved to play pranks, but sometimes, his eyes weren't smiling.
Subtle, lifeless, stripped of all emotion, eyes like glass beads. Very similar to Mr. Mori.
"Looks like you've made up your mind." The coolness of the stethoscope brought my thoughts back to normal. The mafia leader, whose name had just flashed through my mind, smiled and withdrew his hand. "I was thinking of inviting you to stay and have tea and paint with my Alice, and chat about that girl named Longyue."
"Unfortunately, we have to change the time."
After leaving the Port Mafia, I headed straight to the location sent by Mr. Kunikida along with several other members of the Armed Detective Agency.
The atmosphere on the road was tense, and only Dun asked worriedly, "Is that girl named Longyue really the culprit?"
"Who knows? Only by meeting the criminal himself can the truth be revealed."
"But... isn't that girl dead?"
They seemed to have learned some information from Mr. Mori Ogai while I was unconscious.
There was a moment of silence in the car.
At this moment, it was the short-haired female doctor who had treated me earlier who broke the silence. "Hmph, whether it's resurrecting the dead or something else, reclaiming our companions is what's most important, isn't it?" She stepped on the accelerator. "What's wrong with you grown men being so timid at this critical moment?"
Wow… such a powerful aura! My sister also drives wildly, so wildly that I doubt she even has a driver’s license.
I felt a little dizzy, and I couldn't even tell whether it was because she drove too hard or because my body still hadn't fully recovered.
But thanks to Yosano-san, it didn't take us long to reach the port indicated by the location.
As soon as I got off the car, I felt a thick vapor in the air and it suddenly became difficult to breathe.
"Are you okay?"
I looked at Jinghua standing next to me and shook my head.
The air at the port was a bit chilly; there was no wind, and warehouses and containers of all sizes stood side by side. The dampness seemed to corrode the ironwork, and the smell of rust and seawater mixed together, lingering heavily in the winding streets.
My chest felt tight again, and I even started to hear ringing in my ears. My temples were throbbing with pain, and in a trance, I thought I heard someone's gentle laughter.
Mr. Dazai frowned, "Something seems amiss."
Ms. Yosano looked at her phone and said, "You can tell by the look of it, there's no signal."
"Dazai-san, Kunikida-san, and Kenji-kun...are they really going to be here?"
Atsu-kun stood behind Jinghua and me, looking around vigilantly.
"And...it's so strange, the port is so quiet at this time of year."
Yes, quiet.
While tracking down my father, we also visited remote suburban ports where goods were piled up and there were few people. But even there, we could hear the rumble of locomotives, whistles, and even containers being moved.
However, there is no such noise here.
It was as quiet as a cemetery with no living things in it.
Jinghua took a small step back and got closer to me: "Xiaoyan, you stay with me. Don't leave."
She pulled out the short knife she always carried and unsheathed the gleaming blade without hesitation.
Looking at the four men standing ready, I suddenly felt a surge of regret. I should have asked the Port Mafia to lend me some weapons for self-defense when I left.
My body suddenly began to sting. I frowned, clenched my fists, and took a deep breath. The smell of seawater grew stronger, and a cool breeze brushed my neck.
A thin mist rose from the streets.
I heard that laugh again.
The author has something to say:
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Weekend, weekend, time flies by so fast, I don’t want to go to work, waaaaaah!
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