Chapter 74 Matsuda: I'll just say it straight
With a head full of chaotic thoughts and a shocking piece of gossip to share, Matsuda Jinpei quietly and quickly left the supermarket, even forgetting what he originally intended to buy.
Almost the instant he left, Nekono Yuuya, who was stroking the edge of the candy bag with a happy smile in his eyes, suddenly frowned slightly. As if sensing something, he turned his head and looked around in confusion, especially in the direction of the shelf where he and Furuya Rei had just stopped.
"Strange." His keen intuition allowed Nekono Ikuya to detect a lingering unease. He muttered to himself, glancing at the gaps in the shelves for a while.
"?" Furuya Rei, pushing the shopping cart, turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"
"Just now, it seemed like someone was watching us?" Nekono Ikuya's gaze swept around, and the feeling of being stared at seemed to have disappeared.
Upon hearing this, Furuya Rei shifted his gaze from Nekono Ikuya and quickly and warily scanned the surrounding environment. He only saw a dazzling array of goods filling the shelves and a few customers passing by, but did not find any obviously suspicious persons or threats.
He relaxed and calmly looked at his lover beside him, who was frowning: "It's not strange, is it? There have always been people watching us from time to time."
He raised his hand and very naturally used his fingertips to gently stroke Nekono Ikuya's soft and striking pink short hair, then pointed to his own equally eye-catching and dazzling blond hair.
"People can't help but take a second look at good-looking people." Furuya Rei paused, then added, with a hint of teasing in his tone, "Especially with our current hair color and outfits, we do stand out quite a bit when we stand together. It's normal for people to take a few more glances, isn't it?"
One is blonde with dark skin, the other has pink hair and pink eyes; it's hard for them not to attract attention when they walk side by side in the supermarket.
That's true.
Rei Furuya spoke these words with utmost seriousness, without the slightest hint of boasting, but simply stating the facts, which instantly made Ikuya Nekono's eyes crinkle into a smile.
"Oh—" he drawled, banishing the unsettling feeling that was now impossible to pinpoint, and leaned closer, gently bumping Furuya Rei's shoulder. His smile became bright and mischievous. "Rei, are you praising me, or yourself?"
“...Just stating the facts.” Rei Furuya replied without changing his expression. “Let’s go, Hiro will be getting impatient if we delay any longer. Let’s go pay the bill.”
"Oh right, and Jingguang too..."
The sly smile on Nekono Ikumi's face froze instantly, and her eyes began to dart around uncontrollably. A subtle sense of guilt quietly arose, bubbling up in her heart like tiny bubbles.
They came out to buy soufflé ingredients... Did they spend too much time arguing and bickering about "fake home renovation" and "questioning the essence of pure love"?
Now look what's happened! They've completely forgotten about their reliable childhood friend who's home alone...
Thinking of the all-knowing yet gentle and tolerant smile that Morofushi Kagemitsu would show at that time, Nekono Ikuya felt a pang of guilt, as if her conscience was not even there.
He quickly grabbed Rei Furuya's sleeve and pulled him straight to the fruit section. "Rei, let's get a box of strawberries, the reddest and freshest ones!"
A hint of a smile flashed in Rei Furuya's eyes, and he instantly understood: "For Hiro?"
"Yes!" Nekono Ikuya nodded emphatically. "Strawberry, please forgive us for the slight delay in the purchasing time, for the sake of strawberries."
"Let's keep two boxes." Furuya Rei said solemnly, "Count it as one box for him too."
Hiro's unwavering gaze is terrifying.
Nekono Ikuya and Furuya Rei, feeling guilty, are implementing a strawberry apology plan, using strawberries as bribes...
Morofushi Kagemitsu laughs: "I really don't mind accepting the strawberries at all."
...
A pleasant weekend always passes quickly, and a new week begins, with police academy students continuing their daily training.
During a training break, Matsuda Jinpei watched Furuya Rei wiping away sweat with a towel, his expression as serious and focused as ever. Furuya opened his mouth several times, then closed it again, his brows furrowed tightly.
His hesitant, unspoken expression was so obvious that even Kenji Hagiwara and Hiromitsu Morofushi, who were standing next to him, noticed it.
Morofushi Kagemitsu quietly asked Hagiwara Kenji, who was not far away, "Hagiwara, what's wrong with Matsuda? He's been acting strange since this morning."
Actually, he wanted to ask them what was wrong. Although Kenji Hagiwara was better at hiding it, Hiromitsu Morofushi was too perceptive, so he noticed the complicated look in Kenji Hagiwara's eyes as he occasionally glanced at Rei Furuya.
What happened between Hagiwara and Matsuda and Zero?
Did Zero and Matsuda get into another fight?
Zhu Fujingguang, with his cat-like eyes, was puzzled.
"..." Hagiwara Kenji remained silent, only glancing at Morofushi Kagemitsu with a complicated expression.
Morofushi Kagemitsu: "???"
This made him even more confused.
Furuya Rei felt a little uneasy under Matsuda Jinpei's strange gaze. He frowned slightly as he put down the towel, his purplish-gray eyes full of doubt: "Matsuda, what's wrong?"
Matsuda Jinpei's lips moved, and he took a deep breath, about to speak—
Just then, Date walked over with a cheerful smile, clapping his hands to attract their attention: "Hey, you guys, are you free this weekend? Natalie said she wants to formally meet my friends, so I'll treat you to dinner!"
"Oh—" Kenji Hagiwara was the first to chime in, "This weekend? Of course I'm free!"
Matsuda Jinpei also temporarily set aside his desire to talk to Furuya Rei, and turned his head: "Oh, so you're finally willing to formally introduce yourself?"
"Natalie?" Only Morofushi Hiromitsu and Furuya Rei looked at each other, both wondering.
"Wait a minute." Rei Furuya frowned in confusion, his blond hair standing out brightly in the sunlight. "The class president has a girlfriend? When did that happen?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu's blue cat-like eyes widened slightly, his face full of surprise: "I've never heard the class monitor mention this before."
And it seems that Matsuda and Hagiwara already knew? Only he and Zero didn't know?
Zhu Fujingguang subconsciously looked at them.
Matsuda Jinpei grinned mischievously. "I haven't known about it for very long either, just a little bit earlier than you guys."
"Jinpei, stop pretending." Kenji Hagiwara affectionately put his arm around Jinpei Matsuda's shoulder. "I was the one who found it first, and you looked shocked too, didn't you?"
"Huh? Who's shocked? Speaking of shock, it's more like... this is more shocking." Matsuda Jinpei glanced at Furuya Rei, and said the last sentence very quietly.
Jiang Guling was confused: "???"
Looking at the noisy group, Date Kou shook his head helplessly: "So, whether or not you come this weekend, Natalie has made time for it."
Morofushi Kagemitsu nodded with a gentle smile: "Of course I'll go!"
At the same time, he looked at Rei Furuya. Zero, a good opportunity!
Furuya Rei indeed caught Morofushi Kagemitsu's look; his purplish-gray eyes lit up slightly, and he spoke up, his tone carrying a barely perceptible gentleness.
He cleared his throat: "Um... if everyone doesn't mind, I'd like to introduce someone to you all this weekend." After a pause, Furuya Rei added, "My lover, a male lover."
As soon as he finished speaking, the room fell silent for a second.
Knowing the truth, Morofushi Kagemitsu simply smiled and offered no comment, while Hagiwara Kenji and Matsuda Jinpei's expressions became uncontrollably subtle.
Only Date Wataru remained cheerful: "Hey, so Furuya has a boyfriend too? That's great! We can meet up this weekend."
"...Hmm, why aren't you guys saying anything?" Date Wataru looked around in confusion, then seemed to realize something and gave a disapproving look.
"Is it because Furuya's boyfriend is male? Hey, why are you guys still concerned about this? What's the big deal? What era are we living in now, right?"
Date Wataru gently persuaded, "The most important thing about relationships isn't gender, but sincerity. We should be happy for Furuya that he's found someone he likes—no one is allowed to miss our weekend meeting!"
"no!"
Suddenly, an unusually deep, even somewhat strained voice came from the side; it was Matsuda Jinpei.
Matsuda Jinpei hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back, and finally couldn't hold back any longer. He scratched his head in frustration and asked in a desperate, "What the hell?"
"...Which one?"
Jianggu Ling: "...?"
Everyone: "...???"
Rei Furuya's expression stiffened slightly, a bad premonition creeping into his heart: "...What, which one?"
Still pretending to be stupid!
Matsuda Jinpei stared in shock at Furuya Rei, who was still putting up a stubborn resistance, and took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.
He lowered his voice, almost whispering.
Keep your voice down, is this something to be proud of?
"Boyfriend! Which one? The one you had last week... the pink-haired one! And the one from the week before last, the black-haired one, are they the same person?! Aren't you changing boyfriends a little too fast?! And your childhood friend with Morofushi! You even formally introduced him... Ha, which one are you planning to introduce?"
Will they bring home a new one this weekend?
Jianggu Ling: "...!"
Everyone: "...!!!"
Having been completely unaware of the situation from beginning to end, Date Wataru, who was confronted with these words without any prior warning, was utterly shocked.
Date Airlines: Σ(っ°Д °;)っ
Upon hearing this, Morofushi Kagemitsu, standing nearby, twitched almost imperceptibly on the shoulder, then immediately lowered his head, pretending to adjust his cuffs. However, his slightly reddened ears betrayed the fact that he was desperately trying to suppress his laughter, even to the point of blushing.
Zhu Fujingguang: Hahaha.
Caught completely off guard, Furuya Rei was stunned by Matsuda Jinpei's unexpected words: "You, aren't you...?"
Nekono Ikuya's feeling was right; there really were people watching them at the supermarket.
Having already made his point clear, Matsuda Jinpei was quite frank, his eyes sharp: "I'll be blunt, Furuya! Although the police academy doesn't restrict private life, frequently changing lovers is really... not a good thing!"
The main concern is whether the frequency of zero drops is too frequent, like weekly disposables?
After a pause, Matsuda Jinpei emphasized, "Get your act together and be serious about relationships, you bastard!"
It's outrageous that they won't even exchange names.
Kenji Hagiwara, Wataru Date, and Kagemitsu Morofushi nodded in agreement.
Seeing the mixed expressions of shock, condemnation, and "I never expected you to be like this, Furuya" in the eyes of his peers, Furuya Rei's senses began to throb with joy.
Wait, Hiro nodded too?!
Rei Furuya, like a sunflower, whirled around and looked at Hiromitsu Morofushi in shock: "Hiro? You...?"
Morofushi Kagemitsu knows the truth.
Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was called out, looked up with a completely innocent expression: "Yeah, Zero, I think Matsuda makes a lot of sense."
Falling valley zero: (°Dan°).
Falling Valley Rei: h, hiro?
"I told you, I don't mind at all." Morofushi Kagemitsu smiled.
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