Chapter 11 Interplay of Light and Shadow
This was the first time that Morofushi Hiromitsu and Date Wataru had met since graduating from police academy.
Jingguang still remembers the bright sunshine and cherry blossoms falling on the day they graduated, but when they met again, it was in a dilapidated building that was about to be demolished, quiet and deserted, with the night deep in the darkness.
"Squad leader, thank you for your help these past few days." Jing Guang scratched his head a little embarrassedly.
"Huh? You've learned Yuuki's tricks too, haven't you?" Date said, patting the other person's back with a new toothpick in his mouth. "Tell me what happened? How did you end up at the crime scene?"
"Well, that's a long story..." Jing Guang looked up and sighed deeply. His face was hidden in his hood, so his expression couldn't be seen. Only his deep voice slowly drifted out. "That night, I was sleeping in the underground parking lot."
"You're sleeping in the parking lot?!"
"Squad leader, let's not ask about this anymore. In short, I stayed there temporarily that night..."
"Okay, I won't interrupt you anymore, you can continue."
“Around 2 o’clock, I heard a car drive up to the first floor of the parking lot.” Jing Guang paused, tugging at the scarf around his neck. “I recognized the engine sound.”
"An engine?" Ida leaned closer. "You even remember that sound?"
“Squad leader, I don’t have a very good memory. I don’t remember every sound. But I will never forget that car, and I will never mistake that sound.” Jing Guang took a deep breath and said slowly, “A Porsche 356A. I will never forget it in my life.”
Date frowned and asked, "Could it be Mr. Kurosawa—Gin's car?"
“Yes…” Jing Guang silently lowered his head.
Date looked at the other person, sensing that something was amiss: "Morofushi, at 2 o'clock, Yuuki was still playing games at the internet cafe, Nakagawa hadn't started the kidnapping yet, and Miyazaki was still in a taxi and hadn't arrived. Why did you only report it at almost 6 o'clock?"
Date was met with a long silence.
The man under the hood seemed to be trembling slightly, and Ida instinctively thought he was crying.
In an instant, a terrifying thought flashed through Ida's mind:
Accomplice? Accessory?
No! Absolutely not!
Zhu Fu would certainly not do such a thing.
"Hey, Morobuchi, tell me! Where have you been for the past four hours? What have you been doing?" Date grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck like he was grabbing a cat and yelled, "Look up at me! Stop crying!"
Jingguang looked up, tears welling in his eyes but stubbornly holding them back, uttering a few words through clenched teeth: "I... I didn't cry..."
"Then tell me, where the hell did you go?!"
"I……"
"They escaped..."
With a soft thud, the dust settled.
The tension that had been building up in my mind could finally be released.
Just like a child who has done something wrong and feels relieved after admitting their mistake, he was finally able to admit his cowardice to the class monitor.
He even smiled.
"What?" Ida released his grip on her collar, staring at the other person as if he hadn't understood.
"I ran away," Jing Guang repeated, emphasizing each word.
"Why?"
Jingguang smiled bitterly, "Yes, I've been asking myself this all these days. Why? I could have stopped everything before it happened. But why did I do nothing in the end? Nakagawa is dead, Yuuki is missing, and even Miyazaki was in a coma in the hospital for so long before he woke up..."
Ida looked at him without saying a word and listened to him silently.
Jing Guang choked up for a moment and continued, "I... I thought they were after me, so I ran away. There were other exits on the underground level, and as soon as I heard the engine, I packed my things and ran. I rode that secondhand motorcycle and kept going and going, without ever looking back. I only stopped when the motorcycle ran out of gas. At that time, I was thinking: My God, how lucky I am! I escaped unscathed again!"
"You were being chased? What do you mean by 'them'? Was there anyone else besides Gin?" Date subconsciously looked around to check the situation.
"Don't worry, squad leader, everything's alright now. There are two of them, besides Gin, there's another one named Vodka."
"But why did you go back?"
Jing Guang covered his face and replied, "Because, I later realized they weren't after me... Around 4:30, Ling called me in a panic. He said those guys were on the move today, seemingly near where I live. He asked if I was alright. Hahaha, I ran so fast, how could I possibly be in trouble?"
I feel relieved when the two of you are together.
Ida thought to herself.
"After I heard that, I realized they weren't after me, so I ran back. But by the time I got there, it was all over..."
"It's all over..."
Jingguang looked at Yida with a sorrowful expression: "Squad leader, have I disappointed you?"
Date was furious. He grabbed the other man by the back of his collar again and yelled, "Who do you think you are? A savior?! I'm asking you, do you think that if you were in Fukushima on March 11, the nuclear power plant leak would be your responsibility? Don't take all the blame on yourself! So many people die every day, can you save them all? You saved Miyazaki this time, which is already a great deed."
“But, does Mr. Miyazaki really want to be saved?” Kagemitsu lamented. “Isn’t it my fault that he’s spending the rest of his life burdened by the guilt of killing his childhood friend?”
"The stab wound Miyazaki made wasn't fatal; I've already explained that to him."
"But Miyazaki won't forgive himself!" Kagemitsu suddenly raised his voice, startling Date, who let go of his hand.
“Squad leader, every day of the rest of Mr. Miyazaki’s life will be filled with resentment and self-reproach: Why didn’t I stop it in time? Why did I stab the person closest to me? Why did I survive while he died?!”
“Morofushi, you’re not Miyazaki, how do you know what he’s thinking? When I visited Mr. Miyazaki later, I felt that he had gradually come out of his troubles…”
Jingguang grinned, revealing an ugly smile: "Squad leader, I know this very well. Because I also have a childhood friend, I know what he's thinking when I do stupid things. It's just... we're so lucky, so incredibly lucky! But they didn't have that kind of good luck..."
"The miracle of surviving a near-death experience doesn't happen to everyone."
"But it was I who luckily escaped, and there I encountered them, on the verge of life and death."
"Fate did not extend an olive branch to them, nor did I reach out a hand."
"Whose misfortune is it, and whose fault is it?"
“If you want to atone for your sins and offset your guilt, then arrest that guy in the Porsche and bring him to Mr. Miyazaki! Tell him that's the real murderer of Nakagawa! Didn't you say the police haven't caught that bottle of wine in over ten years? Shouldn't this be your job?” Date said seriously. “Morofushi, you have to promise me you'll catch those two guys, or you'll never see Akira again in your life!”
Jingguang asked, puzzled, "Who is Xiaoliang?"
"Ha! Xiao Liang is the cat you asked me to look after. Natalie named him, not bad, right?" Ida said smugly, but noticing the subtle look in the other person's expression, she asked, "Is there something wrong with the name Xiao Liang?"
"Uh... Class monitor, actually I haven't told you yet. I can't use my real identity right now, my current alias is—Hino Ryo."
"Pfft..." Date couldn't help but laugh. "Morino... I didn't mean to make fun of you. It sounds like a healthy and sunny name!"
"Really?" The cat demon scratched its head again, embarrassed.
“Oh right, class monitor, I have another very important piece of evidence to give you.” Jingguang took out two cell phones and handed them to Date. “These are Nakagawa and Miyazaki’s cell phones. Although the memory cards have been damaged, I managed to recover the call recordings. Miyazaki wasn’t lying; someone claiming to be Horii did call him.”
"Well done!"
Ida was about to excitedly put the phone in her pocket when Jingguang stopped her.
Jing Guang said with a troubled expression, "Squad leader, can we not include this piece of evidence in the report and the final case file?"
"Huh? How can that be? Every piece of evidence must be recorded in the file. This is a necessary procedure in the judicial process, and it's not something I can interfere with."
"But...but this can't be made public..." Jingguang pleaded, grabbing Date's arm.
"These kinds of cases are not tried in public, and the case files can only be viewed by internal personnel, so don't worry, they won't be leaked."
"No, I'm worried about the internal situation..."
"Inside?" Date suddenly became alert. "Hino, I haven't even asked you what those guys were trying to do with all this. Has the enemy already infiltrated us?"
"I...I don't know what they can see right now," Jing Guang said, carefully choosing his words. "Maybe I'm overthinking it, but this really can't be recorded in the files. If it gets discovered, I...I can't bear the consequences..."
"I can't gamble with zero lives."
After pondering for a while, Ida silently shoved the phone back into the other person's hand: "Take it! The First Investigation Division doesn't need this kind of dubious evidence for sentencing."
"Eh? But if this happens, Mr. Miyazaki..."
"So what if we have the phone call records? The woman's identity is unknown, and this kind of evidence won't stand up to the judge." Ita cleared his throat and said, "You police have your methods, and we have our rules for searching. The phone should go back to where it came from! We've already been led by the nose by the criminals for the past two weeks, and we certainly won't be controlled by anyone when it comes to sentencing."
Jingguang nodded silently to show his understanding and did not insist.
"Hino, it's a deal. You absolutely must capture those two in the Porsche alive. This is the first case in my three years as a detective where I haven't been able to catch the real culprit. If you can't catch them, I'll throw you out of Onizuka Squad!"
"It's a deal!"
Jingguang reached out to Date, but Date pulled him into a strong embrace. He heard Date whisper in his ear, "Live well, all of you."
"Okay, class monitor, please be careful too."
We are separated more often than we are together, and even the time we spend together is so short.
Ida roused herself and made her way through the narrow path illuminated by streetlights, while Jingguang put on his hood and slipped into the dark corner shrouded in night.
Midnight has passed.
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