·111｜Exclusive to Jinjiang·111
You don't know what the name [Shinichi] means.
Although there was a menu on the bedside table, it was far less than the food in the cruise ship's restaurant.
Kenji Hagiwara snapped the menu shut: "Soft bread, let's just go to the cafeteria."
After saying that, he scooped up the little baby who was lying on the pillow, put him in his coat pocket, and left the room.
The luxurious cruise ship, capable of holding over two thousand people, was brightly lit. Kenji Hagiwara, dressed in a fitted tracksuit, walked along the long corridor, stepping on the soft red carpet. For no apparent reason, he thought of the Titanic. Then he smiled and shook his head, wondering how he could associate such an ominous thing with it.
Yomi Laichuan was bullied terribly by Kenji Hagiwara last night, and now she is curled up in a ball, yawning with her eyes closed in the dark pocket.
"Ah! It's the police officer who's dating Sister Huang Quan!"
Kenji Hagiwara had barely stepped into the restaurant when a girl's voice rang in his ears. A cute, black-haired girl stood about seven or eight steps away, looking at him. Beside her, a kid with his arms crossed curled his lip in disdain. Next to the black-haired girl was a short, chestnut-haired girl who clenched her fists excitedly, her eyes sparkling with admiration for Hagiwara's good looks.
Kenji Hagiwara walked towards them; "It's Ran-chan and Shinichi, what a coincidence, you're on this cruise ship too." He looked at the only unfamiliar face: "And this cute little girl is...?"
Sonoko Suzuki took a step forward, her face flushed, her heart pounding with excitement, almost wanting to scream with joy. But when she introduced herself, she was poised and confident: "I'm Sonoko Suzuki, you can just call me Sonoko."
Kenji Hagiwara suddenly realized, "Suzuki? I remember him..."
“Yes,” Sonoko Suzuki said proudly, hands on her hips, “this cruise ship we’re on belongs to the Suzuki family.”
"I see, that's really impressive."
Kenji Hagiwara was about to say something more when Ran Mouri nudged Shinichi Kudo with her elbow: "Shinichi, you should come and say hello too. You can't be so rude."
Shinichi Kudo, arms crossed, sneered and glanced at Kenji Hagiwara, scoffing, "You bastard, you're not having an affair, are you?"
Upon hearing this, the two little girls' eyes widened instantly: "Eh!?"
Ran Mouri, who would only turn fifteen in a few months, instinctively clenched her fists, puffed out her cheeks, looked up at Kenji Hagiwara, and frowned, looking very aggrieved: "How could you do this..."
Kenji Hagiwara didn't rush to refute. He rested his chin on his hand and looked at Shinichi Kudo: "Why do you think that?"
"There's still a bit of lipstick residue on your neck that you didn't wipe off, which proves you were with a woman today. It's dinner time now. Although the restaurant here is open until 10 p.m., if you want to enjoy the special meal prepared for you on this yacht, you have to come to the restaurant between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m."
"Given how much Lai Chuan-nee loves you, she wouldn't let you eat alone unless she couldn't leave her room. For example, she might be sick or too lazy to move around. But if she were sick, as her boyfriend, you would be extremely worried, or at least not in a good mood. After all, this is at sea, and medical facilities are not comprehensive. If she was too lazy to move around, you would have ordered takeout to take home. But you seem to be in a good mood here, preparing to enjoy dinner alone. So... you didn't happen to have some bad thing with some woman, did you, you terrible adult?"
After listening to Shinichi Kudo's analysis, Sonoko Suzuki gave Kenji Hagiwara a disappointed look: "Wow! What a terrible man! Ran, let's tell your older sister about this! We can't let her be fooled by a bad man!"
Ran Mouri was pouting, looking like she was about to cry. She nodded vigorously, "Okay! I'll call right now!" With that, she took out her phone from her small handbag and dialed Lai Chuan Huang Quan's number with a serious expression.
But the phone rang from Kenji Hagiwara's pocket.
Under the gazes of three pairs of eyes filled with doubt, he shrugged helplessly, took out Lai Chuan Huang Quan's phone from his pocket, and waved it in front of the three of them: "I've been with Soft Bread the whole time, so I haven't cheated on her. She didn't sleep well last night and is catching up on sleep in her room. She told me to just pack some food for her after I finish my meal."
"Then why did you have her phone with you?"
"Just a little prank." Actually, it was because Yomi Laichuan couldn't answer the phone right now, so Kenji Hagiwara just casually put her phone in his pocket.
Kenji Hagiwara looked at Shinichi Kudo with admiration: "Kid, although there were some deviations in your reasoning, you're still quite perceptive. How about considering becoming a policeman in the future?"
“No way,” Shinichi Kudo said, his face showing disappointment and frustration. “I’m going to be a detective like Sherlock Holmes.”
He looked up at Kenji Hagiwara, who was exceptionally tall even among adult men, and whispered, "I'm sorry..."
Kenji Hagiwara put his phone back in his pocket, put his hands in his pockets, and smiled nonchalantly: "It's nothing, just a small misjudgment. You didn't spread it around. Besides, your attitude just now was out of concern for Soft Bread and to stand up for him."
He reached out and ruffled Shinichi Kudo's dark hair: "If Softie knew how much you care about her, she would be very happy."
Shinichi Kudo is still just a teenager, so it's perfectly normal for an older police officer to pat his head. But fourteen or fifteen is the age when a person's self-esteem is surging during puberty. He subtly shrank his neck, and Kenji Hagiwara, who noticed his evasive action, smiled and let go of his head.
The laughter and chatter of the group woke up Raikawa Yomi, who was curled up asleep in the dark. She yawned, stretched her limbs, and kicked Hagiwara Kenji's pockets, making them bulge.
Ran Mouri blinked, her face full of curiosity: "Officer Hagiwara, your coat pockets are bulging and they're moving. What's inside?"
Kenji Hagiwara winked and said, "Guess."
The aloof and somewhat arrogant detective, in the throes of puberty, coldly interjected, "Animal cubs, perhaps."
He had barely finished speaking when a fluffy little mouth and a black nose peeked out from the edge of the pocket, followed by a round little head. The baby, just awakened, opened its big, sky-blue eyes, its watery pupils filled with innocence: "Aww~!"
"!!!"
As soon as Lai Chuan Huang Quan poked his head out, the two little girls cupped their faces in their hands and exclaimed with delight, "So cute!"
They looked at Kenji Hagiwara expectantly: "Officer Hagiwara, can we hug it?"
"You'll have to ask her. If she agrees, then it's fine."
As he spoke, Kenji Hagiwara held Yomi Lai in his arms: "But she's hungry, so she might need to eat first."
Kenji Hagiwara knew that the dog in his palm was human, but the others didn't. To avoid causing unnecessary trouble, after ordering, he specifically asked the kitchen for a paper bowl to use as tableware for Yomi Raikawa, and then sat down at the table with the three middle school students.
Ran Mouri gently stroked Yomi Rikawa's head: "Officer Hagiwara, what's this dog's name?"
“Hmm…” Kenji Hagiwara was at a loss for words.
Kenji Hagiwara always calls her "soft bread," but calling a dog by his girlfriend's name in front of familiar people might cause unnecessary misunderstandings or curiosity. Like his colleagues at the Metropolitan Police Department's Public Security Bureau, who still think he has some kind of weird quirk—calling a puppy "wife."
Ken Hagiwara tapped the table with two fingers, thought for only a very short moment, and then answered with a smile, "Marshmallow."
Ran Mouri: "A marshmallow? It really does look like one. It's white, fluffy, and round."
And it's sweet too.
Kenji Hagiwara added silently to himself.
Yomi Laichuan really likes Ran Mouri. She's pretty, cute, and polite, so even though she's being treated like a dog, Yomi Laichuan happily sits on the table and lets Ran pet her head. But since it's only the first time she's met Sonoko Suzuki, whenever Sonoko tries to pet anything other than Yomi's head, she wriggles away and hides under Ken Hagiwara's hands.
Shinichi Kudo, who had been hesitant to speak since earlier, remained silent for a long time. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, he poked Kenji Hagiwara with his finger, signaling him to bend down, and whispered in his ear, "Did Raikawa-neechan have gastric bypass surgery?"
Kenji Hagiwara: "Why do you think that?"
Shinichi Kudo: "Laikawa-nee is such a big eater, she can eat twenty bowls of ramen in one go. Last time Ran asked her out, she was full after only eating two bowls, which is not normal. I asked her why, and she said that she was sick and had surgery, so she can't eat anymore."
After saying that, Shinichi Kudo seemed to recall something, his expression subtle: "The restaurant owners in Beika Street were saddened for almost half a month because of this."
He continued, "Every time I ask Sister Lai Chuan what illness she has, she changes the subject. So I looked up information online, and it seems that Sister Lai Chuan had gastric bypass surgery."
Kenji Hagiwara raised an eyebrow, greatly admiring Shinichi Kudo's dedication to his research, but unfortunately he couldn't reveal the truth. So he put on a "you found out" expression: "Shh—Soft Bread doesn't want anyone else to know about this, so you have to keep it a secret for us."
Shinichi Kudo nodded solemnly: "Don't worry, I'll keep it a secret. But Raikawa-nee really doesn't take care of herself. Gastric sleeve surgery is very harmful to the body. Although she eats a bit more, as long as it doesn't affect her health, it's perfectly fine. Hmm... Did someone make fun of Raikawa-nee for her 'big appetite'?"
"Don't worry, she didn't—"
Just as Kenji Hagiwara was about to comfort Shinichi Kudo, a scream rang out. They both looked in the direction of the sound and saw a seven-foot-tall man clutching his own throat, screaming in agony. The man nearly knocked over a table as he stood up. He staggered back a few steps, then collapsed to the ground with a thud, lifeless.
Amidst the screams, Kenji Hagiwara suddenly recalled the news he'd heard from Wataru Date, who was already working in the First Investigative Division, when he submitted his request for leave of absence to the Metropolitan Police Department the day before. Date had said that recently, the murder rate in Tokyo—especially in the Beika district—had been increasing year by year. Previously, there were only a few major cases a year, but recently it had been slowly rising at a rate of three to five murders per month. And, coincidentally, every time a murder occurred, that brat from Professor Kudo's family would always be nearby.
What was Kenji Hagiwara's response to the class president at the time? It seems to be... "Really? It must be a coincidence."
Kenji Hagiwara glanced at Shinichi Kudo, who had sprung up from his seat and rushed to the scene to maintain order and tell everyone to step back, and fell into deep thought.
"..."
Is it true or false?
Are you kidding me?
[Author's Note]
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this book will end with just a few slice-of-life scenes remaining.
By the way... I've already prepared Matsuda's story! A sandwich!
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