26 Chapter 26
◎The world of science is really unsafe◎
Chapter 26 [The world of science is really not safe]
The middle school student walked out of the store happily with his arms full of hamburgers and snacks.
"Huh? The line at this shop is closing so quickly?" As he walked out, he was surprised to see that when he left, there was a long line at the dessert shop, which required staff to hold signs to maintain order, but now there was no one there.
He was buying fast food, and while the portions were a bit larger than usual, it didn't feel much slower. Remember, this was a fast food restaurant on a busy Tokyo street, and the staff were seasoned. He was only buying food for four people, and the speed was about the same as four people buying food for one person.
In comparison, although dessert shops serve food quickly, they are limited in size. They require queues because the seating is limited and there are too many people eating dessert.
No matter how you look at it, it's impossible that a whole line of customers would finish the fast food for four people, right?
He hesitated for a moment and saw a police car parked in front of the dessert shop, followed by more police cars.
The police quickly cordoned off the area in front of the dessert shop and prohibited anyone from entering.
"Listen up, everyone inside! Release the hostages immediately and seek leniency."
It was like something out of a TV drama. Someone was holding a bullhorn. A negotiation expert, perhaps? Whoever it was, he was shouting at the door. Other police officers were holding riot shields in the front, while others were hiding behind shields or other cover, keeping watch.
No wonder the line suddenly disappeared; they were probably forced into the store by the criminals. If anyone escaped, it would have been Agatsuma Sayuri, Mori Ran, and Suzuki Sonoko, who were at the end of the line. Their escape would undoubtedly have alerted Kudo Shinichi, who was in the shop next door.
Kudo Shin instinctively took a step closer to the dessert shop and was immediately stopped. The police who were dispersing the crowd were surprised that even students would join in the fun.
Kudo Shinichi // shouted, "My friends and sister are still inside."
Now, the attention of the nearby police was focused on him.
A female officer came over, leaning slightly forward to look up at the child. "Don't worry, little brother! We'll definitely get your friend and sister out."
Kudo Shinichi nodded and freed one hand to touch the phone in his pocket. He had the contact information of the three people inside, but now was not a good time to call. If he attracted the attention of the criminals, it would hurt them instead.
The police weren't just gathered at the front door of the dessert shop; the sharp-eyed boy noticed a police car heading toward the back door. While this brought him some comfort, he still felt uneasy until he saw his friend and his wife, Sayuri, come out.
Everyone outside the dessert shop looked nervous, and even the unrelated onlookers were at least paying close attention to the dessert shop. So, what was it like inside the dessert shop?
Because too many people were crammed in at once, the crowd was squeezed tightly into the gaps between the tables. Some people couldn't squat any more, so they pushed the tables and chairs together to make a larger space to squat.
Agatsuma Sayuri and her group of three were at the end of the line and were the last to enter the store.
When the line was quickly let into the dessert shop, everyone was happy at first, thinking that they might have caught up with a group of customers leaving through another door (that they didn't know about). But when more and more people entered and the speed increased, they began to feel surprised.
Unfortunately, even if they spotted some clues, the line was only this long. Before they could fully react, Suzuki Sonoko, who was at the end of the line, was covered by a gangster's hand, and another gangster threatened the last few people who hadn't entered the door with a knife, forcing them forward.
At this time, the shop assistant who had been maintaining order also showed his evil face, waving the sign and beating those who disobeyed orders into the dessert shop.
As soon as they entered the door, they were ordered to squat in the crowd in the corner. Everyone was huddled together like quails, trembling and shaking, not even daring to speak.
The majority of customers at these dessert shops are women, with a few couples and children, and relatively few single men or groups of men. While dessert shops themselves don't discriminate based on gender, Japan, with its strangely "traditional" thinking, often has a self-limiting tendency to believe that women shouldn't go to ramen shops, and men shouldn't go to dessert shops.
Of course, not everyone is influenced by this idea, but in reality, there are significantly fewer male customers in dessert shops than in other shops. This has led to a situation where several armed gangsters can control dozens of customers in a dessert shop.
My wife Sayuri's dress is quite elaborate. For everyday wear, hers arguably has the most fabric and accessories of any outfit. Today, she's wearing an OP Lolita dress, which falls below the knee and features a 45cm bustle, giving the pretty little skirt a puffy look.
As we all know, squatting in a skirt is most likely to cause the hem to drag on the ground. A midi-length skirt like the one Sayuri Agatsuma is wearing, with a wide, knee-length hem, is the type that would drag on the ground even if you squat, lower your body, or sit down slightly, not to mention the added bustle that allows the hem to flow even further.
When she was driven into the crowd of hostages, no one noticed anything was wrong, but when they squatted down, they found that she occupied the space of three or four people.
Ran Mouri and Suzuki Sonoko were naturally with her. Some of the junior high school girls were already about the same height as adults, while others were still growing. Ran Mouri, who worked out regularly, was about 160cm tall. If official data showed that Ran Mouri was 160cm tall in her first year of high school, then she would be roughly that height now.
Suzuki Sonoko seemed to be taller than Mouri Ran in high school, but now she is only about 160cm, which makes Agatsuma Sayuri, who is 168cm tall and wearing thick-soled platform shoes, look particularly tall.
In fact, in Japan, where height is generally short, Agatsuma Sayuri's height is enough to stand out from the crowd, even taller than many boys. When she puts on her outfit and steps on shoes with soles over 10cm, she can almost be said to be "a towering beauty".
If her boyfriend wasn't nearly 1.9 meters tall and his best friend wasn't 1.8 meters tall, she would have thought she was the tallest person in Japan.
At this point, this height, which would be considered the "Tokyo Tower" in Japan, provided some help for what they were going to do next.
When women feel scared, they snuggle together or use physical contact like holding hands and hugging to relieve tension.
My wife Sayuri pulled out a handkerchief with beautiful prints, sobbed and cried out in fear, while hugging the two little girls, fearing that the criminals would separate them.
Ran Mouri was closest to the crowd. Her skirt and half of her upper body were covered by Sayuri's skirt, and the rest of her body was covered by Sayuri's half-cloak.
The criminals were initially very concerned about my wife, Sayuri. After all, she was the tallest person at the scene—including the men. Even if they were armed, if one hostage took the lead in resisting, it would easily inspire resistance from the rest.
But this woman was so timid that she didn't even dare to raise her head. She was sobbing while hugging the other two girls.
My wife Sayuri buried her head in Mao Lilan's neck and whispered to the girl, "Is it okay?"
"Yes, it's been sent." Mao Lilan tried not to move her lips, with a look of concern on her face.
The three of them maintained this posture, as if the other two girls were comforting the most frightened one. The criminals were also happy to be left alone. In a situation like this where the hostages outnumbered the criminals, they had to be very careful of them resisting.
"There were seven people at the scene, one with a gun, five with knives, and one with a steel pipe. The leader should be the one with the gun."
"There were also criminals in the kitchen and staff room. The number is unknown. I saw three."
"The three hostages behind you are acting strangely. They are constantly checking on the hostages. I suspect they are the criminals."
The three girls exchanged ideas and realized that even with Mao Lilan's intervention, they couldn't solve all the crises and could only wait and see. However, Mao Lilan had already used blind typing to send this information to Kudo Shinichi's phone.
Thankfully, the mainstream models of this era are still keypad phones, or rather, most middle school students still use keypad phones. Switching to a touch screen is still inconvenient for blind typing.
When there are relatively many hostages, the police usually rely on persuasion and exchange, and will take tough measures when there is a chance to ensure the safety of the hostages.
This dessert shop is a small one-story storefront, while the entire shopping street, including the fast food restaurants of international chain brands, is all one-story. If the police are brave enough and careful enough, they can parkour from the rooftops of other stores to the rooftop of the dessert shop.
The entire store entrance, aside from the front and back doors, consisted of a large floor-to-ceiling window. With the lights in the lobby turned off while it was still daytime outside, a distinct black hole effect emerged. While those inside could clearly see the police's movements outside, the police couldn't see anything inside the store.
In this case, even if the police turn on the lights outside, it will only turn the glass into a mirror and it will be impossible to see what is happening inside.
I don't know if there are windows in the kitchen and staff room. Theoretically, there should be a toilet for employees in the store, but my wife Sayuri can't see it from her current angle.
"Boss, who should we take away then?" Perhaps the criminals had completed what they wanted to do, or perhaps they were waiting for an opportunity, a bored criminal asked the leader.
The man with the gun glanced at the hostages and gave them a malicious smile. "Take whoever you like."
There was a commotion among the hostages, and the girls huddled together even more, fearing that they would be chosen.
When I asked the leader questions, I used English, but the leader deliberately answered in Japanese, just to scare the hostages.
Agatsuma Sayuri had her back to the main entrance, facing the hostages. She couldn't see the attackers' movements, but she could hear them. To show her fear, she trembled and hugged her companions tighter.
This time, she leaned close to Suzuki Sonoko's ear and said, "There is a gem on my bow, and underneath it is a long double-pronged hairpin, about 20cm long. Sonoko, you can use it to protect yourself."
Agatsuma Sayuri used a discarded long hairpin as the inner support for the bow, which just happened to catch the lower edge of the gem. If she wanted, she could also add a step-shaking ornament to the hairpin to match the style of the dress, making the dress more gorgeous and complex.
This is a little trick that only a "craftsman" like her knows.
① Dresses with sleeves, flying sleeves and draped sleeves also meet this definition. They are gorgeous in style and usually have a bustle.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
