Chapter 22 Both Sides Suffer
Shinichi ran breathlessly to the junkyard, only to find that there was hardly anyone there.
"They've probably all gone to have dinner!"
The fact that it was unattended provided him with great convenience.
There was a large pit in the waste dump, its bottom invisible in the pitch-black night.
The broken bricks and tiles of the demolished building were piled up underneath.
Shinichi glanced down and jumped without hesitation.
He turned on his phone's flashlight and carefully slid down the edge of the giant pit. Stones and bricks tumbled down with a crash, and he had to find the right foothold, otherwise he risked falling into the void.
Shinichi regretted not bringing a rope, but he couldn't worry about that now.
He slowly and tentatively explored the area, and soon found the camera he had installed.
Shinichi fiddled with the malfunctioning device, which appeared to be deformed only due to being squeezed; the memory card inside was still intact.
"So the prisoners weren't rushing to demolish the building to destroy the evidence inside. Then what were they after?"
Shinichi risked continuing to move downwards, where the rubble was covered with traces of smoke and burning, indicating that the fire was more severe in this area.
Suddenly he saw a section of wire sticking out from inside the concrete block.
"Strange, how did it get buried in the wall? Could it have been done by an arsonist?"
Shinichi eagerly pocketed the evidence, as if it were a priceless treasure. However, just then, a rumbling sound came from above, and a large number of rocks poured down.
He cried out in alarm:
Oh no! The workers are back and have started working again!
Shinichi yelled at the top of his lungs, "Wait! There's someone down there!"
But the roar of the machine completely drowned out his shouts.
Unfortunately, his phone was also out of battery at that moment.
Dust flew everywhere, and mud and sand fell.
In the midst of the chaotic darkness, Shinichi finally put aside the truth for the time being and began to care about his own life.
He was suddenly overcome by a nameless fear:
Am I going to be buried alive?
To avoid the falling rocks, Shinichi had to move to the side.
But this is not easy, because the "land" beneath his feet is collapsing and falling.
He felt his hand was cut, and his clothes seemed to have many tears.
He tried throwing stones upwards to attract the workers' attention, but the distance was too great and it had no effect.
Just when Shinichi was about to collapse from exhaustion, the roaring sound stopped.
"It's over? You're off work?"
Shinichi secretly rejoiced and climbed up using both his hands and feet.
Suddenly Shinichi sensed someone coming down from above. He looked up and saw:
A familiar pair of sunglasses came into view.
"Officer Matsuda?!"
Shinichi was overjoyed, but the other party didn't give him a friendly look.
The man grabbed him by the back of his collar and lifted him up like a chick.
Before Shinichi could even catch his breath and say thank you, Matsuda roared angrily, "You brat, are you out of your mind?!"
Shinichi originally wanted to say something like, "I'm sorry for making you worry." But when he saw the man with black hair, black glasses, black clothes, and black shoes, and the angry look he had never seen before, a dark cloud suddenly settled over his heart.
The wind howled, blowing into Shinichi's clothes, which were torn by the rubble, making them feel chilly.
He couldn't help but shiver from the cold, and asked in a trembling voice, "Didn't Officer Matsuda go to a class reunion? How...did he end up here?"
Matsuda gave the other person a serious look and replied, "Thanks to you, I'm going to be late."
"Huh?"
"Come here!" Matsuda commanded curtly.
But Xin kept staring at the unfamiliar expression on that familiar face, standing still without moving.
Because he already had the answer in his heart, an answer that made him despair to the point of suffocation.
"If Officer Matsuda doesn't believe it, why does he keep listening?"
"—Officer Hagiwara, why are there so many electrical wires here?"
—"If the truth is not as you wish, will you still continue to persist?"
"I feel like someone is watching me, even right here right now."
"Is it...you?"
Shinichi felt his whole body trembling, and he tried hard to control it, but the trembling only got worse.
"You're... in cahoots?"
Shinichi asked in near despair.
At that moment, he desperately wanted Matsuda to answer "no," but the only response he received was silence.
Shinichi interprets this as: default.
"Come here!" Matsuda roughly pulled the boy into the car.
Since things have come to this point, there's no need for further words. Let's just pack it up and send it home!
However, Shinichi thought Matsuda was going to tie him up, and struggled fiercely to resist, but was stopped by the other party using violent means.
Matsuda yelled, "Don't you feel the pain of your wounds enough? Sit down!"
Shinichi winced in pain, adopting a defensive posture, as if he wanted to fight Matsuda to the death.
To everyone's surprise, Matsuda pulled out a first-aid kit and coldly asked, "Will you do it yourself or should I help you?"
"Huh?" Shinichi was dumbfounded; he had never seen a prisoner like this before.
As he was pondering what tricks the other party was up to, Matsuda impatiently grabbed one of the boy's injured legs, rolled up his trouser leg, and skillfully bandaged the wound.
Shinichi stared blankly at the man in front of him, thinking, "Is he trying to please me?"
"Why are you carrying a first-aid kit?" Shinichi asked.
"Given by the dog," Matsuda replied irritably.
"What?!" Shinichi thought he had misheard and racked his brain trying to figure out what kind of code this was, then suddenly realized and asked, "That blond man?"
Matsuda did not respond, and Shinichi took it as a tacit agreement.
"They really are in cahoots. The blond one looks like the leader?"
After bandaging his leg, Matsuda began treating the wounds on his arm.
Shinichi saw that the other person's brows were furrowed, and he looked quite frightening.
He turned his head away from that fierce-looking face.
After the bandaging was completed, Matsuda got into the car without saying a word.
"Fasten your seatbelts," the driver reminded him, his tone cold and harsh, completely unlike the police officer Shinichi had known before.
"Perhaps his true nature has been revealed?"
Shinichi, lost in thought, asked, "Where are you taking me?"
"go home."
Whose house is this?
The driver glared at him irritably, perhaps because he thought the question was too stupid to answer.
"Aren't you going to explain anything?" Shinichi asked, still unwilling to give up.
Matsuda didn't even want to look at him this time, putting on a cold and indifferent face.
Shinichi interprets this indifference as arrogance.
At 15, during his transition to adolescence, whenever he tried to enter the adult world, he would always be met with this cold stare: "Children shouldn't meddle in adult matters!"
"You're too young, you wouldn't understand even if I told you."
...
Shinichi, who was precocious, hated this attitude.
What he never expected was that the kind and respectable Officer Matsuda would one day show such an annoying attitude.
Shinichi didn't ask again, and Matsuda naturally didn't answer either.
They remained silent the entire way.
Shinichi could have done many things during this time. But in the end, he did nothing, his mind in turmoil as he let the other person carry him away.
Just an hour ago, Matsuda didn't think this way in Shinichi's mind.
In his mind, Matsuda was the bomb disposal expert admired by his juniors, a responsible and dedicated individual, and a close friend despite their age difference—cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and highly capable.
Now, Matsuda has become an arsonist.
"I was so blind!"
Shinichi cursed himself viciously.
Why would it be so blatantly wrong?
How could they ignore so much evidence and clues?
Is it just because of the filter of first impressions?
Shinichi Kudo has always considered himself to be observant and insightful.
But this time he took a nasty fall and was in so much pain that he couldn't get up.
Shinichi silently gazed at that beautiful profile, and suddenly noticed that the other person was wearing headphones, just like the one at Dr. Agasa's house last time.
In a flash, he had a bold conjecture.
This conjecture thrilled him: "Yes, yes! It must be! I knew Officer Matsuda couldn't be a bad guy!"
"We've arrived," the driver said.
Without even saying goodbye, he quickly ran off the bus.
Matsuda was puzzled and couldn't believe that the young detective had let him go so easily. However, Shinichi made a final gesture to him, clearly telling him not to leave.
"What is this brat trying to do?"
Matsuda was getting increasingly impatient and wanted nothing more than to fight the blond bastard on the other end of the earpiece.
Shinichi ran into the doctor's house, and a little while later he ran out again, holding something in his hand.
When Shinichi arrived at the car, Matsuda rolled down the window on his own.
"Huh?" Before Matsuda could react, Shinichi took off his headphones and stuffed them into a strange device.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Matsuda shouted anxiously.
“Inspector Matsuda, don’t worry, that way that person won’t be able to hear you,” Shinichi said earnestly. “That blond man is spying on you, forcing you to do things for him, right?”
Matsuda looked at the other person with a complicated expression, unable to think of a reply for a moment.
Shinichi thought he had guessed what the other party was thinking, so he continued to reason: "Not only you, but Inspector Hagiwara is also being controlled. I think that blond man's bargaining chip is Inspector Hagiwara's sister, right? They kidnapped Ms. Hagiwara to blackmail you, right? Who exactly are those people, and why are they able to coerce the police?"
"Huh?" Matsuda was completely dumbfounded, marveling at Shinichi's amazing reasoning process.
He couldn't help but give a bitter laugh: "Even now, you're still willing to believe me?"
"So, just how good is my image in your heart, or how bad is your image of Furuya?"
Shinichi, seeing the other person's expression, assumed his deduction was correct and continued, "Officer Matsuda, please trust me, I can help you!"
"Why are you so fixated on this kind of thing?" Matsuda sighed softly, took off his sunglasses, and silently lit a cigarette.
Shinichi stared at the other person, puzzled. This was the first time he had seen Matsuda's eyes, and they were even more beautiful than he had imagined.
The smoke drifted through his fingers, but he didn't grab it.
"So you're finally willing to take off your sunglasses and smoke in front of me?"
"So that statement was a lie after all."
"Kudo-kun's family must be very wealthy, right? Your father and mother are both celebrities. You like mystery novels, so you can write them someday. Like your father, you have financial freedom, time freedom, and a fulfilling love and career. Isn't that a good life? Why do you have to do things that have nothing to do with you?"
"My ambitions don't stop there! I want to be the modern-day Sherlock Holmes, and I don't care about fame or fortune! I just want to know the truth! Officer Matsuda, I really can help you!" Shinichi shouted hysterically.
"You're really troublesome..." Matsuda sighed, looking up at the sky and exhaling a large smoke ring.
Shinichi bit his lip hard and said with difficulty, "If Officer Matsuda doesn't believe me, I can ask my dad for help. He used to be a member of Interpol, he can definitely help you!"
Matsuda looked at the other person with a face full of surprise.
If he had gone along with the other party's wishes and continued this absurd farce, things wouldn't have ended so badly.
However, this was not Matsuda's style.
Because Matsuda understands that a father plays a very special role in a boy's life.
He was both an idol and a support during my childhood, and a constraint and shackle that I tried to break free from during my adolescence.
For 15-year-old Shinichi, asking his father to handle a problem he cannot solve is tantamount to admitting defeat.
Matsuda had no intention of hurting the boy's pride.
“You’re overthinking it. Actually, your initial reasoning was correct,” Matsuda said calmly, speaking very quickly. “No one coerced me. The idea of setting the fire was my own, and Hagi helped a little. I’ve been lying to you from the beginning, and I’m grateful that you’re still willing to believe me. You’re outside our plan, and I don’t want to hurt innocent people.”
Shinichi was stunned. He tried his best to find any trace of lying on the other person's face, but unfortunately, he found none.
Because what Matsuda said was indeed the truth.
It's just that it sounds awful, harsh, and unacceptable.
Shinichi was so angry that he felt dizzy and almost couldn't stand. He roared in grief and indignation, "Bastard!"
The mournful cry echoed through the sky, prompting nearby residents to turn on their lights and peer out to see who was howling in the night.
Matsuda was startled by Shinichi, and his hand trembled, causing half of his cigarette ash to fall to the ground, shattering all the trust and goodwill Shinichi had built up for him over the past month into dust.
"Yes, that guy really is a bastard..." Matsuda said with a wry smile.
Shinichi was confused, unsure whether Matsuda was mocking him or insulting the blond man.
“But he was a good person.” Matsuda smiled weakly. “Farewell, Detective.”
Having said that, he strode away.
Shinichi was still standing there, stunned: Was he playing me again?
Shinichi, exhausted both physically and mentally, limped back to the doctor's house.
The alarm clock that Matsuda had just fixed started chiming: it was already 8 p.m., but he hadn't had dinner yet.
"Shinichi, what's wrong?" the doctor asked with concern.
"It's nothing, I just ran into a jerk."
"Huh?"
"But...maybe he's a good person?" Shinichi muttered to himself.
A month later, Shinichi met his lifelong friend at the ski resort.
But those two bastards who said they'd take him skiing didn't keep their promise.
Matsuda and Hagiwara did not appear for a long time.
They met again two years later.
Things have changed, but people are no longer the same.
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