Chapter 33 Psychic Detective II
In the darkness, Hagiwara Kenji buried his head in the quilt for a long time. The brief fragment of the orange-haired girl with a confused look and a little surprise, and her slightly dirty little face suddenly turning red, kept repeating in his mind. No matter how hard he tried to deviate and think about something else, it was in vain and could not be shaken off.
He had clearly carried her to the infirmary more than once or twice, and he was probably more aware of her weight changes than she was. But just now, he had only wiped her face with a handkerchief, and she was so embarrassed that she ran away.
"Would it be better to apologize tomorrow..."
But even if I apologize, I won't be forgiven. Instead, she'll secretly glare at me with resentment... He's a powerful and proud esper, but he's so easily shy and will never admit it...
"……cute."
It's so cute that it's unfair... He won't be able to sleep like this!
·
When Kurosaki Utsuki returned home, her heart was still beating fast.
She had originally planned to go directly to the murder victim's spirit after saying goodbye to Hagiwara, but now she had soiled another piece of clothing. She didn't want to take another shower upon her return, so she had no choice but to leave her body at home and leave as a clean spirit.
It was already past midnight. Before going out, she habitually touched the cat's head. Listening to the cat's contented snoring, she couldn't help but get distracted again.
“That guy…”
I was just wiping her face with a handkerchief, why did she jump out of the window in such excitement?
She didn't even pay attention to see if the patrolmen on the street outside had left - but with the speed she ran away at that time, even if someone saw her, they would only see a flash of white light... How could she assume that she had escaped!
Seriously! She has an important mission to do, stop distracting her!
She has to finish her work quickly and then come back to sleep!
...How can I sleep like this?
Thursday, June 18th
It was a beautiful sunny day.
Matsuda, who had come to school with his friends, stared suspiciously at his friend who yawned three times in just one minute. "Hagi, why do you look so sleepless? Is there a construction site outside illegally working at night?"
The apartment building where the murder had occurred had been demolished and reconstruction had begun. Just now, when he passed by the door, he saw workers wearing safety helmets walking inside.
"No..." Hagiwara Kenji yawned again.
Matsuda Jinpei nodded in understanding: "Oh, so Kurosaki came to see you last night."
Hagiwara Kenji suddenly stopped moving: "How did you—"
"What else could it be?" Matsuda Jinpei glanced at him, not realizing how thought-provoking his words were. "Did Kurosaki stay over at your house again?"
Hagiwara Kenji only understood the literal meaning, and his tone remained calm. "No, Kurosaki-chan just came over for a short while," he said, "but my sister almost found out."
"Tsk." He recalled the anime scene where two people hid under the same blanket in a moment of desperation. Matsuda Jinpei shook his head with emotion, then asked with conviction, "Are you really not dating?"
He had asked this question before, and the answer he got was "Of course not, Kurosaki-chan would be troubled if she was misunderstood." And this time, his friend didn't seem ready to change his answer: "Of course not, Jinpei--"
Matsuda Jinpei quickly interrupted him: "I know, you two are just ordinary friends—"
But his words were cut off: "We're not friends, just a boss-employee relationship." Hagiwara Kenji sighed exaggeratedly, "Kurosaki-chan doesn't acknowledge me as a friend."
Although he felt that the other party's rejection was just due to tsundere and shyness, saying "How can a human be friends with the god of death", there was nothing wrong with that, and she was not the heir to a killer family from Kukulu Mountain...but the conclusion was that she refused to admit it.
Matsuda, who was standing next to him, bared his teeth. "Wow, Hagi, it's rare to see you being disliked by a girl like this."
"It's not that I dislike you..."
If she really hated him, she would have found a way to erase his memory—whether it was through drugs or physical means—and then cut off all contact with him. She would never have gone to his house and shared her joy with him like she did last night.
He's obviously valued.
"Anyway, since you're not dating Kurosaki, then Sakurai from the next class today, I think that's her last name, her plan to confess to you can go ahead."
Jinpei Matsuda shrugged and nonchalantly broke the big news that should have been kept secret from the parties involved.
"Her friend asked me last night if you, Hagi, were single. If you were, she'd reconsider." He continued, "I heard she's the manager of the tennis club and quite popular in the class. You should think about how to reject her first."
Hagiwara Kenji couldn't help but laugh: "How do you know I'm going to refuse?"
"Are you going to accept it?" The curly-haired boy's face was filled with the expression "Is there something wrong with you?", and then he casually dropped another bombshell on him, "Don't you like Kurosaki?"
Eh? Does he like Kurosaki-chan? How could he, the person involved, not know? But... to say he doesn't like...
For a few seconds, Hagiwara Kenji was lost in thought and didn't say anything, thus losing the opportunity to deny it.
This time, Matsuda Jinpei's face was filled with the expression "I understand everything, I understand especially well, trust me." His tone was as if he had everything under control. "Don't worry. Kurosaki doesn't interact with other people much anyway. Hagi, you have a good chance of winning... Hagi?"
Feeling that what he said was wrong, Kenji Hagiwara simply shook his head.
"Xiao Zhenping, you're thinking too much. I have no intention of competing with anyone for victory or defeat right now."
Did he have a better chance of winning? That wasn't necessarily the case. He knew almost nothing about her social circle, and among the few he knew, the "Urahara-san" she mentioned several times had a much better chance of winning than him.
His simple and straightforward friend casually changed the topic to the auto repair shop his family had acquired.
·
Kurosaki Utsuki felt drowsy all day.
Just like himself—Kenji Hagiwara thought to himself.
He didn't know if it was because of his conversation with his friend earlier that morning, but he had been staring at the girl in the front seat, consciously or unconsciously. In the first class, he saw her, with her chin in one hand, gradually slumping down, and finally blatantly lying on the table.
However, her "physical problem" was already known to all the teachers in the teaching group. The math teacher who was giving the lecture was relieved only after he looked at the man sitting behind her and got his shaking head to indicate "she's fine". At the same time, he ignored the obvious fact that she was sleeping in class.
I have to say, when she was awakened by the bell, her expression changed from confusion, to enlightenment, to regret, and then to resentment. It was so cute that he could replay it in his mind many times, just like what happened on this night when he didn't sleep much.
…and the above situation was repeated in every subsequent class.
Moreover, Xu was particularly tactful today and only showed up once during lunch break. The orange-haired girl simply laid down on the table and jumped out the window to go to work. When she came back, lunch break was not over yet.
As school was about to end, he couldn't help but wonder if Kurosaki-chan would come up with something simpler than going to the infirmary, something she could skip and save the world. After all, he and Matsuda Jinpei were the only two people in the class who could see spirits, and both of them were insiders. And if she just lay on her desk, no one would bother her. He could just stay nearby and make sure nothing happened...
When his friend poked his shoulder, seemingly furtively but actually carelessly, and he looked up and saw the shy girl from the next class, he suddenly realized that the "confession" his friend had mentioned early in the morning was about to happen.
He had indeed seen this person before. They had exchanged names and talked. They had helped the teacher carry homework books back from the office together. He seemed to have met her in the health room as well. However, when they met, he was worried because Kurosaki Utsuki had been "out" for longer than the average time, so he didn't have a deep impression of what they talked about.
The important thing is that although the girl is indeed beautiful and cute in the eyes of the public, and the words and feelings she confessed to him are quite sincere, he cannot treat her differently.
In short, I don’t like it, so I refuse it.
Because during the day, apart from sleepiness, his mind was filled with thoughts of Kurosaki Utsuki, so he didn't remember the words to say in response. However, most of the time, he could rely on his on-the-spot reaction to reject the other party without causing any awkwardness, and would also minimize the harm to the other party.
This is a talent that his friend can never learn, but of course his friend does not envy him.
But this time, he didn't focus his rejection on "I'm too busy right now" or "I don't have any plans for a romantic relationship in the near future." Instead, perhaps noticing Kurosaki Utsuki suddenly turning her head in the seat in front of him, he blurted out, "I already have someone I want to marry in the future, and I'm not making any other plans until we've both achieved our life goals."
...How could he say such a thing?
Looking back, it seems like this answer was meant to be a one-time solution for his entire high school career, but he didn't really think through the options... Ultimately, he didn't have a "life ideal for a certain period," and probably didn't have a "future marriage partner"...
But I still said it.
It was said with great conviction, conviction, and expectation.
Perhaps because his attitude was too resolute, the girl who had just confessed to him was mentally shocked and quickly ran away after saying "Hagiwara-kun, I wish you happiness." After exchanging a glance with the shocked Matsuda Jinpei, his eyes naturally fell on Kurosaki Utsuki, whose eyes were also wide and her face was full of astonishment.
"I want to get into the University of Tokyo," "I want to inherit the hospital in the future"... The Death Girl, who expressed these somewhat "simple" dreams, shone with the same brilliance as she had when she saved his life several times in the past.
...I guess I was influenced by her.
Not only does it refresh his worldview, but it also constantly demonstrates his presence in the details.
"Hagiwara-san," the orange-haired girl who had, to put it bluntly, changed the course of his life spoke cautiously, "So that's how it is."
"No, I—"
"It's okay. I'm not curious at all. I only have my studies on my mind." She quickly turned her head to Matsuda Jinpei beside her and said, "I'm having a study session at my house this weekend. Do you want to come?"
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