Chapter 8 Limited Edition Figurines
Metropolitan Police Department First Investigation Division, Monday morning at 9:00 AM.
President Sakai, who is still hospitalized, suddenly sent a message saying that the kidnappers changed their minds today and no longer wanted the gold bars, but asked for Gundam figures instead!
"These kidnappers are too reckless!" Takagi shouted, clutching his head. "They put on a Kamen Rider vs. Godzilla show in front of the kindergarten first, and now they want Gundam? Are they some kind of mecha fanatic?"
Date shook his head and sighed helplessly: It seems that the plan he prepared in advance is completely useless!
But what can the police do?
Now that the kidnappers have a hostage, they have no choice but to obey.
The figure the kidnappers demanded wasn't some cheap knock-off sold at a roadside stall. It was a limited-edition Amuro Ray figure, the only one of its kind in existence in all of Japan, privately owned by a famous collector, and was extremely valuable.
Because the collector passed away last month, the Amuro figure was auctioned off as part of his legacy.
The auction is this morning.
Date found out the address of the auction, and upon checking the time, exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no! Amuro is second in line, the auction has already started! Takagi, let's go!"
Date and Takagi rushed over with sirens blaring.
Takagi asked worriedly, "Date-senpai, what if the kidnappers suspect that President Sakai called the police?"
"They probably knew the police were already involved when they tampered with Miyazaki's ventilator."
"Then why...could Yuuki already be..."
“Yuki was fine during the last live stream. Don’t worry, we’ll keep a low profile. When we get near the auction site, we’ll park the car and walk over. The kidnappers won’t suspect us.”
However, the auction scene was much more lively than the two detectives had anticipated.
"There are so many people?!" Takagi looked at the seemingly endless queue and his heart began to pound. "Date-senpai, what should we do?"
"Leave the car here and run over there!"
"yes!"
A large crowd gathered at the entrance, chattering about how much this item sold for, whether that buyer lost money, and how high the next auction price would be...
"The person who bought Amuro just now was really lucky!"
"Who says otherwise? A few years ago, there was an auction in the United States for the same Amuro model, which sold for a whopping $2 million! But that guy just bought it for 100 million yen. What a steal!"
Date and Takagi, who were panting heavily from running, were dumbfounded when they heard this: Did they still not make it even after rushing all the way?
"Excuse me, what did the person who just bought Amuro look like?" Ida asked the passersby.
"A man, in his thirties, not very tall, about the same height as this gentleman!" a passerby pointed at Takagi and said, "but he was a bit overweight. He drove away."
What kind of car do you drive?
"Huh? Hey, was that a Mazda that guy was driving?" a passerby asked his companion. "The same model as Amuro's Gundam? What's it called again, RX or something?"
"Is it an RX-7?" Date asked eagerly.
"Oh yeah, yeah! It's the RX-7, all flashy and fancy."
What does "flashy and gaudy" mean?
"Uh, it's pretty flashy, kind of like Amuro's color scheme..."
Thank you!
Date and Takagi rushed back to the car and urgently requested assistance from the Ministry of Transportation: to help find an RX-7 with Amuro color scheme that had just left the auction site.
"Date-senpai, even if we find him, so what? That person is obviously a die-hard Amuro fan; he even painted his car the same color as his idol. How are we supposed to get the figure then? Using force isn't a good idea, is it?"
After a moment's thought, Date replied, "There's always a way out. Let's find a buyer first. And tell President Sakai to prepare the money; we can't exactly go to the transaction with gold bars, can we?"
The Ministry of Transportation quickly located the buyer's car, and Date and Takagi rushed over there without stopping.
A customer who was about to go home was suddenly stopped by a traffic policeman and asked, bewildered, "Officer, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Please wait a moment. You have important items in your vehicle and need to stop here temporarily."
"Is the traffic cop eyeing my Amuro?"
The traffic police were just doing their job and couldn't understand what the other person was saying at all. Just then, Date and Takagi arrived.
"Excuse me, sir, could you sell us your Amuro figure? We'd be willing to compensate you for your losses," Date said sincerely.
The buyer was immediately displeased and angrily asked, "Why should I? Amuro is mine, why should I give him to you? You want to buy him with money? Is this something money can buy? I! Won't! Sell!"
Date and Takagi looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
"Officer, may I leave now? Are you detaining me just because of these two men's unreasonable demands?"
The traffic police also expressed their dilemma.
Seeing the buyer angrily about to leave, Takagi grabbed the car door in a panic and shouted, "Wait! You can't leave! The child, the child..."
"What child?" the buyer asked, puzzled.
Takagi suddenly realized he had said the wrong thing, but had no choice but to go along with it: "My child is still waiting for Amuro!"
Upon hearing this, Ida widened her eyes in surprise, wondering: What's going on here?
The traffic police officer stood aside, wearing a spectator's expression.
"Hmm? You look quite young, but you already have children?"
"Not yet..." Takagi said guiltily.
"Does it exist or not?"
"It'll be here soon! My wife is in the delivery room, she's about to give birth!" Takagi shouted in one breath.
"Why aren't you going back to be with your wife? Why are you here asking your mother for money?"
"Because...because I promised her I would buy Amuro as a birth gift for my son!"
The buyer frowned: "But Amuro is mine, no matter what..."
"Please! Amuro is very important to me. He's been my idol since I was a child. Brother Hang told me, 'Xiao She, you must become a man like Amuro in the future!'"
As he spoke, Takagi pulled Ida over and said with deep emotion and solemnity, "Brother Hang, I did it! Look how weak I was when I was a child, always the one who got beaten up in fights, but now I've developed a strong physique! I exercise every day, long-distance running, weightlifting, shooting... Now, I've proudly become a policeman!"
"Hmm, are you a police officer?"
Takagi turned to the buyer and said, “You know what? Because of work, I haven’t been able to spend time with my family for a long time. I haven’t even seen my pregnant wife. I’ve told her that Amuro is who I am today, and that we met and fell in love because of Amuro. I want to give my son—my most precious baby—a one-of-a-kind Amuro statue in all of Japan on the day he is born! I want to tell him what kind of man his father is, and that he should grow up to be like Amuro. Coincidentally, my son’s birthday is also the auction date of this Amuro statue. Don’t you think this is fate? So, I must bring Amuro to my son! Please!”
Takagi gave the buyer a standard 90-degree bow.
Ida and the traffic policeman standing nearby also bowed and said, "Please!"
The buyer had never seen anything like it before, and he was somewhat moved by Takagi. But he was also reluctant to part with his beloved, whom he had finally acquired.
After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Can I take a few more photos together before selling it to you?"
"Sure! Of course! You can take as many pictures as you want!"
The traffic police even thoughtfully found them a tripod to take pictures.
After much trouble, Amuro finally ended up in Takagi's hands.
"Haha, Takagi, you've improved a lot lately! Well done!"
Exhausted, the detective collapsed into the passenger seat and asked in despair, "Senior Date, will the news of my son's birth be known throughout the entire Metropolitan Police Department by tomorrow?"
"Don't worry, Brother Hang will protect you!"
"Thank you, Date-senpai!"
Without further ado, they also needed to put the figurine into a designated bank safe deposit box as requested by the kidnappers.
"Date-senpai, will we encounter a criminal?"
"I reckon they'll be hiding in the shadows."
When they arrived at the bank, they found no trace of the kidnappers.
Ida tried asking the bank staff about the owner of the safe deposit box, and the reply she received was: Nakagawa Taku, the safe deposit box was just rented today.
Takagi leaned closer and whispered, "I guess they used the documents they stole from Mr. Nakagawa to complete the procedures."
Date agreed and made arrangements with his colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Department to take turns staking out the location to see if the kidnappers would appear.
With Amuro, valued at 100 million yen, safely stored away, Date and Takagi's mission was considered successfully completed.
After Date and Takagi left the bank, the kidnappers sent a live video as promised.
Just like last time, it started with a time announcement.
"Dad, I've moved to a new address. They... asked me to tell you not to come looking for me anymore, and that they'll let me go home once the money is all there."
In the later part of the live stream, Yuuki showed her homework and lunch, and then the video cut off.
Police still haven't been able to pinpoint the exact location of the live stream.
"Damn it! I've been completely outmaneuvered again!"
Ida sat in the car, frowning. She looked up and saw a familiar figure at the bank entrance, and couldn't help but sigh.
"This kid is really troublesome!"
"Date-senpai, I have a feeling I've been played. Kidnapping hostages for figurines, is that something a human would do?" Takagi asked indignantly.
"Think about it from another angle, what if the kidnappers who demanded an exorbitant ransom suddenly didn't want the money anymore..." Ida also began to ponder.
"Oh right, why?"
"Ha! Maybe their initial goal wasn't money at all?"
"A feint, something else? But what exactly do the kidnappers want? They can't possibly just want a figurine, can they?" Takagi couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.
"I don't know, but things are getting interesting! Will they finally show their true colors next time?"
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