Chapter 38 Sharing the Same Misfortune
When Shiho woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day.
Last night, after taking the medicine, my fever subsided a bit, but it spiked again in the middle of the night. My temperature was alarmingly high, and I kept talking incoherently, seemingly calling for my sister.
Jingguang busied himself trying to get her to sleep.
The little girl was still not fully awake when she woke up in the morning.
His body temperature fluctuated, and he only drank a little thin porridge.
It wasn't until now that I've regained some strength and can get out of bed and walk around.
The food blogger is making sweets in the kitchen as a thank-you gift for Hagiwara: wagashi (Japanese sweets).
Shiho walked in timidly, wearing the pajamas that Hagiwara had bought for her.
Her face looked somewhat pale because she was sick.
She didn't remember much about what happened last night, only that the man had been taking care of her.
"You're awake?" The food blogger, wearing a cat apron and a chef's hat with cat ears, turned around and greeted the little girl with a smile.
"Thank you for taking care of me." The girl's voice was very pleasant, but a little hoarse.
She glanced at the pastries on the plate and asked with a curious look, "Are you a chef?"
"I suppose so! I'm Hino Ryo, you can call me by my name," he replied. "Would you like to come and visit?"
The little girl leaned closer, her eyes gleaming with surprise.
Within the organization, she never lacked food or clothing.
But this was the first time she had ever seen such an exquisite dessert:
The natural cherry blossom pink hue spreads across the petals, as if a blooming cherry blossom is emitting a fragrant aroma, and even the veins on the petals and the stamens are clearly visible.
"This is... food?!" the little girl asked in surprise.
"Want to try a piece?" Hino said with a smile.
He originally made six pieces to give to Hagiwara, but it wouldn't hurt to give Shiho one too! After all, cherry blossoms have five petals.
The little girl held the cherry blossom in her hands with great care, looking at it from left to right, reluctant to eat it.
Finally, encouraged by Hino, I took a small, gentle bite.
For chefs, praising their culinary skills needs no words.
The expression on your face the moment the food enters your mouth is the best answer.
This was the first time he had seen Shiho smile; it was a happy smile.
"Shiho, there's something I need to talk to you about." Hino became a little serious.
The girl's eyes widened: "How does Mr. Hino know my name?"
"Your sister told me!"
Upon hearing her sister's name, Shiho's eyes dimmed.
“Miss Akemi is still alive. Don’t worry, she has reliable people taking care of her,” Hino reassured her.
"Really?!" The little girl's eyes were filled with shock and confusion. "But everyone says my sister has already..."
“That was just a smokescreen we used to rescue Miss Akemi. Those people lied to you so you would stay in the organization and not think about escaping,” Hino explained, going to the study to hand the little girl a package. “Miss Akemi asked me to give this to you.”
What's inside?
"It's said to be a cassette tape left to you by your mother. Because the organization always reviews the items you exchange, this tape has always been hidden in a safe place. Now my friend has retrieved it, and it's yours."
Shiho gently stroked the gift that had transcended time and said softly, "Thank you, Mr. Hino, and thank you to your friend. But why did Mom record this for me?"
"I don't know either. You'll probably only know the answer after you hear it."
When Mingmei told them that her mother had left behind a recording, everyone was very curious about its contents.
However, neither Zero, who retrieved the tape, nor Kagemitsu, who gave it to Shiho, had ever listened to it.
Because they know that some privacy should be respected.
"Although it's safe for now, you sisters can't see each other yet. Those people are still looking for you everywhere, I hope you can understand. Tomorrow I'll give you a specially modified phone. Then you can contact each other online without worrying about being tapped. Okay?"
However, Shiho countered, "Won't I be causing trouble for Mr. Hino by being here?"
"No, because we're the same."
They are all people who cannot walk openly in the sunlight.
They can only live in the shadows, hiding among the crowd.
She suddenly remembered that the man she had seen last night was somewhat different from the one in front of her, so he must have disguised himself.
This inadvertently brought them even closer together.
"Shiho, I have an important question I want to confirm with you. How many people know about your health condition?"
"It happened once before on mice, but I erased the experimental data. So I don't think anyone in the organization knows about it. However, there's one more person..."
"You mean Kudo?"
"Huh? How did Mr. Hino know?"
"I'm friends with Kudo-kun!" Hino lied without batting an eye; in reality, they had never officially met.
"I see. No wonder Mr. Hino recognized me so quickly."
"Shiho, I'm a little curious, how long will these symptoms last? Are there any complications? Is there any possibility of recovery?"
"I'm sorry, it's hard for me to explain. Although I developed APTX4869, I don't understand the principle behind this juvenile state. Based on the mouse's performance, its immunity was lowered, but everything else was normal. Its hormone secretion level was also comparable to that of the juvenile control group, meaning it could maintain normal growth. As for recovery... I really don't know."
“Okay, I understand.” Hino nodded somewhat heavily.
There's good news and bad news in this, but if even Sherry, the developer, is completely baffled, then the organization must be even more confused, right?
"Oh, right, there's one more thing. You can no longer use the name Shiho Miyano. I've thought of a few katakana for you. Take a look and see which one you like. Or you can choose one yourself."
The little girl nodded.
“Shiho, I have to go out for a bit, I’ll be back soon. Don’t go out or open the windows while I’m gone, and don’t answer the door if anyone knocks. If anything unexpected happens, use this to call for help.” Hino gave her something that looked like a car key with a button on it. “Don’t worry, I’ve lived here for a long time and nothing has ever happened to me, this is just in case.”
Shiho expressed her understanding: "Don't worry, Mr. Hino, I'll take good care of the house."
Hino changed his clothes, picked up the takeout container, and went outside.
Before leaving, he said to the girl, "Shiho, the tape recorder is in the closet in the bedroom."
"Thanks."
Hino, dressed in a food delivery uniform and wearing a helmet, delivers snacks to Hagiwara on his motorcycle.
He originally wanted to ask more questions, but he could tell that Shiho was a little tired and that she really wanted to hear the audio from the tape, so he came out.
The Hagiwara family's house wasn't far away; it was right next to the Matsuda family's house.
It only takes about 15 minutes by motorcycle.
As Hino arrived at the apartment building entrance, he spotted a wisp of smoke rising from a head of curly hair in the distance.
"What a coincidence! Then I don't need to have it delivered to my door."
Hino strode a few steps, shoved the lunchbox into Matsuda's arms before he got on the elevator, said "You ordered this from the person next to you," and strode away.
Matsuda was left completely bewildered. His first thought upon seeing the large box was: Is there a time bomb inside?
It wasn't until the cigarette burned my mouth that I belatedly realized: That man's voice sounded so familiar!
The chef is only responsible for cooking, and the delivery driver is only responsible for delivery.
As for how to divide the five snacks between two people, that's certainly not something Hino should be concerned with.
But Hagiwara and Matsuda probably encountered similar problems when they were young, so they must be quite experienced!
Mr. Hino, having successfully completed his mission, hummed a little tune as he went home.
When he reached his doorstep, he deliberately made his footsteps heavy to remind Shiho that he was back.
Sure enough, when Hino entered the house, he saw the little girl sitting at the table in the bedroom, and the tape recorder had already been put away.
Judging from the other person's expression, Hino could roughly deduce that the content of the tape was probably on the warm and pleasant side.
Uncharacteristically, Shiho took the initiative to speak, "Mr. Hino, was the person who helped me retrieve the tape Kudo?"
Actually, it was Zero who did this, but to avoid unnecessary trouble, Hino told a harmless lie: "Yes."
A hint of sadness appeared on the little girl's face as she asked, "You asked me earlier if there was a chance for my body to return to normal, was it because of Kudo?"
"Yes! Although it's easy to be a child, it also has many inconveniences. Even though I'm a high school student, I have to pretend to be a child every day. It would be best if I could go back to my original self."
Shiho bit her lip and said, "I want to try making an antidote. I... I don't want to take away his life."
“Shiho, you don’t need to blame yourself. No one is blaming you for this,” Hino said earnestly, looking into the girl’s eyes. “But if you’re willing to try, I’ll thank you on Kudo’s behalf! What kind of help do you need?”
"I need the original data..."
"I'm sorry, that probably won't work. The laboratory building has already been burned down."
"Oh, so fast?" The little girl sighed. "Okay, then, it's fine if I don't have it. But I need a laboratory, and I also need some chemical reagents, medicines, mice, and so on."
“Experimental supplies are easy to find, but the lab…” Hino looked around his house and realized it was really difficult to find a space for Shiho to do experiments. “You should rest well for the next few days. I’ll figure out the lab situation.”
"Thank you." The little girl glanced at the man wistfully. "Mr. Hino, please feel free to ask me anything else you'd like to ask."
Hino was a little embarrassed that the other party had noticed, and readily admitted, "Actually, there's something else I wanted to verify with you. Three years ago, Japan experienced a rare flu outbreak. Our investigation revealed that it might be related to the organization. I wonder if you're aware of that?"
"I was studying in the US at the time, but I had heard about it. It was indeed related to the organization. Apparently, the virus leaked from a biological laboratory called D-Lab, which was closely linked to the organization, and the cause seemed to be some kind of error during the shipment from the US to Japan..."
"That lab is in the US?!"
"Yes, but I haven't had any contact with them, I've only heard rumors about them."
"Can you tell me about it?"
"It is said that D-Lab has developed many biological and chemical weapons. Although it seriously violates international law, it has always had a lot of research funding because of its strong connections."
Is the organization also one of the financial backers?
"Perhaps, I don't know. But most of the rumors about D-Lab are about the meaning of the letter D in the name."
"oh?"
"It is said that the logo of D-Lab is two triangles placed one above the other with their vertices facing each other. So some people say that D stands for Double."
"Is it shaped like an hourglass?"
"More or less! Is there a problem?"
"That same symbol appears in the Dr.Virus game too."
"So that game really did have a hidden secret?"
"It's nothing, please continue!" Hino said with a smile.
"However, some people think that the two triangles are the capital Greek letter Delta. Of course, there are also rumors that the laboratory was full of dead bodies. So D is actually Death or Disease, and some people even say it is Detergent."
"Wait, why is there laundry detergent?"
"It is said that the first biological weapon developed by that laboratory was a white powder similar to laundry detergent, hence the nickname."
Hino mused.
I've never heard of this so-called D-Lab police before; it seems necessary to check with the FBI to find out if it's true.
"Oh, by the way, how's the name coming along?"
"I've chosen this one." Shiho handed the list to Hino, who saw a checkmark on one of the names.
"Ai Haibara? Then I'll call you Ai from now on, okay?"
"sorrow."
"Huh?" Hino didn't react for a moment.
The little girl with brown hair extended her fair and slender hand and solemnly said, "Ai Haibara, nice to meet you."
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