Chapter 143

Just as Hoshikawa Kazuaki and Nishihara Tadahiko expected, after leaving the cafe, Amuro Toru immediately contacted Morofushi Kagemitsu, who also knew the inside story, under the identity of Furuya Rei.

After a series of code exchanges and tests, the two were finally able to talk normally and without worry.

"I finally found the undercover agent planted by the organization in the Metropolitan Police Department. This time, it was all thanks to Zero's timely information. But unfortunately, the list was leaked by the undercover agent."

The familiar voice soothed Rei Furuya's emotions. The worry and fear that had surged uncontrollably from the moment he saw the drawing paper finally calmed down as if being caressed by a spring breeze after hearing the soft voice of Morobuchi Keimitsu.

"Hiro, you've done well. If you need my support, please let me know. At the same time, you must pay attention to your own safety." Furuya Rei paused, then asked, "If the list is leaked, the victims back then may be targeted again by the organization. Have they been contacted?"

However, after hearing all of Furuya Rei's responses, Morofushi Kagemitsu frowned the first moment.

Zero's mood is not right.

In the past, no matter how worried they were about each other, after the initial stage of using secret codes to confirm each other's safety, they would first solve work-related problems. And for people like them who conduct undercover searches, intelligence and missions will always come before personal feelings.

However, this time, although Furuya Rei's tone and intonation were the same as usual, his conscious relaxation and trust in his childhood friend still made him unconsciously expose his inner unrest. Although such a small change may not be noticed by others, as a childhood friend who has been with him for many years and is very familiar with him, Morobushi Kagemitsu still noticed it at the first time.

Morofushi Jingguang was a little worried about Furugaya Rei's current state. He knew his childhood influence, and knew that beneath that once serious and earnest but now false and changeable face, there was a soul as firm and shining as a diamond. But now, what unbearable things had happened to make Furugaya Rei so upset?

But they are both public security police after all. Between dealing with personal problems and completing their duties, they all chose the latter. So Morobushi Jingguang chose to answer Furuya Rei's question at the first opportunity:

"Don't worry, I've already asked Umeda to arrange for someone to handle it right away. Not many of the victims back then survived, so we're urgently relocating them and arranging fake identities for them. There's still enough time."

After finishing the business, Zhu Fu Jingguang changed the subject:

"But you, Zero, you seem to be in a rather unstable mood. Did you run into any trouble there?"

Before Furuya Rei could come up with an excuse, Morofushi Kagemitsu continued:

"Don't think you can just fool me. I know this won't affect your work, but Zero, I will be worried about you."

Fūya Rei opened his mouth, but suddenly he couldn't say the words he had prepared.

He immediately understood why he was exposed in front of Morobushi Kagemitsu. They knew each other too well and trusted each other too much, so no matter what kind of difficult problems the other encountered, they would always find out at the first time. Therefore, Furuya Rei never thought that he could deceive Morobushi Kagemitsu, who was already sensitive and knew him very well, by lying at this time.

Because of the nature of their work, every opportunity to talk on the phone was very precious. Furuya Rei didn't want to affect Morobushi Kagemitsu because of his emotional problems, so he took a deep breath slowly, closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened his eyes again, he had completely controlled his emotions.

"Don't worry Hiro, I'm fine. I was just thinking about some things from the past and couldn't adjust in time. I'm fine now."

Furuya Rei briefly mentioned his own situation, then quickly shifted the topic to the painting that Date Kou brought over, and explained the situation in detail.

Morobushi Kagemitsu immediately understood the reason why Furuya Rei lost control of his emotions. In the final analysis, it was because he almost died in the line of duty three years ago, which left a deep shadow in Furuya Rei's heart. So much so that every time Furuya Rei recalled the life-and-death crisis three years ago, he would feel uncontrollably scared and worried.

Morobushi Kagemitsu was also very helpless about this, but at the same time he was extremely glad that he survived in the end. Otherwise, if he really died in the hands of the organization, he couldn't imagine how sad Furuya Rei would be after being left behind by him. Because of this, he was extremely grateful to the person who was willing to lend a helping hand to him without expecting anything in return.

Because of his subtle guilt in front of Koujinran, Morofushi Jingguang did not dwell on Furuya Rei's emotional problems this time, but cooperated with him to change the topic. However, he frowned because of the content of the painting mentioned by Furuya Rei.

"Before the incident happened, could the whole process and result be depicted in a painting?" Morobushi Kagemitsu thought about all the participants at the time, and analyzed calmly and quickly in his mind, "That is to say, the child who drew the picture may have learned about the incident from the participants at the time. No, the time doesn't match. If the painting was really done earlier than the incident, then it could only be that he knew about it when the initial plan was just formed."

However, Rei Furuya has a different opinion:

"Actually, Hiro, I think that maybe the kid who is good at writing stories in comics is the real cause of the whole plan?"

Morofushi Jingguang suddenly thought of something else at this time. He did not continue with his previous speculation, but asked:

"Zero, you said before that the child was living in an orphanage, is that right?"

"Yes. Why, what did you think of?"

Zhu Fu Jingguang paused for a few seconds before slowly speaking:

"I did think of something. But Zero, I promised him that I would not tell anyone about his affairs. So I'm sorry, Zero, I plan to investigate it myself first. But don't worry, there will be no danger."

Seeing this, Fūya Rei stopped asking questions and started talking about other things.

"By the way, I noticed that your assistant, Nishihara Tadahiko, seemed to have a good relationship with that kid. Regarding this person, Hiro, are you sure he can be trusted?"

"Oh? Zero has already met Nishihara?" Morobushi Kagemitsu said calmly in a tone familiar to Zero Furuya: "Don't worry, Nishihara is a very competent police officer and a very good brother."

When the coffee shop closed, Toru Amuro still hadn't come back. Even though Hoshikawa Kazuaki had only been back for work for a short time, he had already gotten used to it. He and Azusa Enomoto quickly cleaned up the tables, chairs and cutlery, closed the shop door, and then looked at Tadahiko Nishihara and Naoto Matsui who had been waiting for him.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long. It's already so late. If you two don't mind, why don't we go out for something to eat? It's my treat today!"

Naoto Matsui's eyes lit up:

"Is this true? It would be great if I could have a chance to go out for a drink with Mr. Hoshinokawa! But how can I let Mr. Hoshinokawa pay for it? How about this, I know there is a good izakaya nearby, why don't I treat Mr. Hoshinokawa to a drink today?"

He looked at Xingchuan and Ming expectantly, his brown eyes were almost filled with stars, his slightly plump round face was full of blushes of excitement, even the freckles on his nose were more noticeable.

Hoshikawa Kazuaki didn't find it strange that Matsui Naoto was so enthusiastic. Rather, ever since he started serializing the manga three years ago, he has always encountered all kinds of fanatical fans, some of whom worship him like a god, some of whom crazily ask for photos, some of whom want to defeat him with reasoning puzzles, and some of whom even turned into paparazzi and followed him and took photos of him.

Even the perpetrator of the poisoning in the apartment, Yuko Kobayashi, was a crazy fan of mine half a year ago. However, for some unknown reason, she suddenly turned from a fan to a hater and angrily poisoned me, causing me to almost die on the spot from poisoning when I just took over the account.

Compared to them, the overly enthusiastic Naoto Matsui in front of him looked a little weird, but he was really a normal fan. And Hoshikawa Kazuaki was always very tolerant of those readers who really loved his comics.

Isn't it just a small gathering at an izakaya after get off work? This is actually a very common way of socializing in Japan. Just when Hoshikawa and Akira were about to agree to Matsui Naoto's proposal, Nishihara Tadahiko suddenly slapped them on the shoulder. The exaggerated strength of the hand almost made Hoshikawa and Akira stagger, and the words that had not yet come out of their mouths were also slapped back into their stomachs by this slap.

"Haha, Mr. Matsui is so polite. But there's no way Hoshikawa would agree to go to a pub or something like that. We can just find a random yakiniku restaurant."

Nishihara Tadahiko also very knowledgeably recommended a nearby yakiniku restaurant, and then explained to Matsui Naoto quite seriously:

"After all, Hoshikawa is still a high school student, still a minor, and cannot drink alcohol. So going to an izakaya is absolutely not an option for him. A yakiniku restaurant is more suitable for him. What do you think, Mr. Matsui?"

Naoto Matsui was stunned for a moment by what Nishihara Tadahiko said, then he turned around to look at Hoshikawa Kazuaki, who was photographed with a depressed look on his face, and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, sorry, I was just thinking about how amazing Hoshinokawa-sensei's mystery comics are, and I forgot that he's still a minor. Okay, let's listen to Officer Nishihara and go to the barbecue restaurant."

Xingchuan and Ming looked at him speechlessly, thinking that this guy was clearly my ardent fan just a few minutes ago, but with just one sentence he classified me as a minor.

Is this fan fake?

In the end, Nishihara Tadahiko and Matsui Naoto still ordered a glass of beer each, but asked for a glass of milk for Hoshikawa and Akira, and even gave it the euphemism that it "helps you grow taller", which made Hoshikawa and Akira so angry that they rolled their eyes.

When the three people had almost finished eating, Nishihara Tadahiko slowly made a cup of tea, then strolled outside the private room with the cup in hand. He also generously booked several private rooms around it, then slowly walked back to their private room and closed the door.

Just as Matsui Naoto was about to speak, he saw Nishihara Tadahiko put his finger to his lips and said "hmm" softly, then, under the silent gaze of the two, he took out a small rectangular object from his arms. Hoshikawa Kazuaki recognized it at a glance, it was a small signal jammer.

"Okay, we can talk now. This is a miniature signal jammer. All signal receiving devices within at least five meters will be ineffective, which can ensure that our conversation will not be eavesdropped. And I have been to this barbecue restaurant several times before, and the sound insulation effect of the walls is still good.

However, for safety reasons, I have booked several private rooms around us so that we will not disturb other people's use of mobile phones, and we don't have to worry about our conversation being accidentally heard by unrelated people. Of course, it is best to keep the voice down to prevent accidents. "

Xingchuan and Ming watched him in silence, and only at this moment did they finally find the opportunity to ask:

"You were so cautious about being overheard and even chose a barbecue restaurant to discuss things. Why didn't you just come to my house? At least there are no irrelevant people in my house, so even if you want to check and block the signal, you don't have to be so sneaky."

Nishihara Tadahiko glanced at him.

"How do you know there aren't other unrelated people waiting near your home?"

Hoshikawa Kazuaki thought he was deliberately provoking him, and was planning to say something back with a smile, but when he saw Nishihara Tadahiko's expression, which did not at all mean a joke, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Officer Nishihara, did you just say that someone was deliberately lurking near my house? Is this a joke? It's really not funny at all..."

However, Nishihara Tadahiko only said "apartment murder case", and Hoshikawa Kazuaki immediately shut up and didn't ask any more questions.

Naoto Matsui was astonished. The two of them had such a good understanding of each other. Moreover, the aura of Officer Nishihara was also very strong. With just a few words, he had arranged everything in order.

However, at this time, in the minds of Xingchuan and Ming, the two had already had a heated discussion about the safety of the rental house they had rented.

"Officer Nishihara, what do you mean by that? Could it be that my rental house is really targeted by some unknown guys?"

"I've told you before, the cause is the murder in the apartment. Someone saw Jun-ya paying attention to the location of your house, and a group of FBI agents who were on vacation and came to Japan for a tour suddenly found a vacant room on the same floor as yours and moved in that day."

Xingchuan Kazuaki's expression twisted for a moment.

"What does the FBI mean by this? Are they monitoring my whereabouts? Or are they trying to use me as bait?"

Nishihara Tadahiko sighed:

"Why don't you guess that they moved there specifically to protect you?"

Xingchuan and Ming's words paused.

"Protect me? Why? There's no reason."

I don't know what Nishihara Tadahiko was thinking of, he even smiled before saying:

"But from what I know, Akai Shuichi, who is currently holding the identity of Okiya Subaru, a graduate student at Toudou University, seems to have a strong desire to protect you since you directed and acted in the chase of a burglar and murderer."

Hoshikawa Kazuaki carefully recalled the so-called burglary and murder case. It seemed that it was at that time that he first encountered the hooded vest and also tried to create a script for the first time.

However, according to Officer Nishihara, Akai Shuichi had already been tricked so badly by him that day, and later he even specially mobilized people to stop him.

The conversation between two people is carried out in consciousness, and the speed of the conversation depends only on the speed of thinking. So when the two people finish talking, only a few seconds have passed.

At this time, Matsui Naoto finally sorted out his emotions. When he looked at Nishihara Tadahiko, his eyes were filled with realization, "It turned out to be like this," and he sighed:

"Police Nishihara is truly an excellent police officer that even the public security police are vying to recruit. Even the FBI that only appears on TV can't escape your eyes."

Hoshikawa Kazuaki looked at Matsui Naoto in confusion.

"How do you know he was recruited by the public security police? Are you familiar with him?"

This time it was Nishihara Tadahiko's turn to pretend to cough.

Naoto Matsui didn't care about that and started his story.

"In fact, I took the initiative to ask Teacher Xingzhichuan out this time because I wanted to tell him something, some reasons why our bodies behave abnormally at certain times."

Naoto Matsui's tone became much lower than before, he lowered his head, and his whole body was gradually immersed in a sad and depressing atmosphere.

Hoshikawa and Ming felt that what he said next must be very important to them, so they calmed down and waited patiently for Naoto Matsui to adjust his mood.

"I'm sorry, this is so complicated that I don't know where to start."

Naoto Matsui wiped his face with his hand, as if he was trying his best to calm himself down, but Hoshikawa and Ming were quick to notice that his body was actually shaking slightly.

"Mr. Matsui, are you okay?"

Xingchuan and Ming Weiwei noticed that his slightly chubby face had turned pale at this moment, and there were even beads of sweat on his forehead. His fingers were clenched into fists, and were moving restlessly near his palms.

Xingchuan and Ming realized instantly that he was afraid!

What he feared was the story he was about to tell.

But even though he was afraid to recall the memories, Naoto Matsui still insisted on telling those stories to himself.

Xingchuan Heming didn't know the reason, but he knew what to do at this time. He immediately reached out and held Matsui Naoto's slightly trembling hand. For a moment, he felt as if he was holding a piece of ice.

Naoto Matsui seemed to be burned by his hand and shook uneasily, but he did not retract his hand. Instead, he looked at Hoshikawa Kazuaki's face with a nostalgic and hazy look.

"Teacher Hoshinokawa, you are really as kind as your mother."

Xingchuan and Ming: "!"