Chapter 117: Talk about the Day After

When the flames of the explosion obscured his vision, Zhu Fu Jingguang's mind went blank.

The scorching air wave almost hit him in the face, and the crackling rain made pits in the soil. The indescribable color of the night swallowed him up.

He couldn't control his body, and he didn't realize how much time had passed. Something grabbed his arm, and he threw it away.

Zhu Fu Jingguang was forcibly pulled apart by someone who had locked his neck. The pain in his lungs was like drowning, so he had to bend down and breathe deeply. The roots of his teeth ooze blood. He didn't know if it was from biting or an illusion caused by his trance. He seemed to have vomited out all his dirt.

Officer Kazami from the Public Security Department held down his shoulders desperately and shouted something, but Morobushi Kagemitsu could not hear it.

There was still a buzzing in his ears; the huge shock wave from the explosion had caused his eardrums to bleed; the flying iron fragments had cut his brow bone and side of his face; in the endless blood mist washed away by the heavy rain, he was looking for something in a daze.

What are you looking for?

He looked down at his hands. His ten fingers were sunk into the dirt. They were trembling and trembling from exhaustion. There were clear and horrible burn marks on the bloody backs of his hands.

The burn marks pointed to a charred ruin.

Behind Kazami, he saw his best friend from childhood, a comrade who shared the same wish as him, standing stiffly outside the ruins.

The rain wet Fūya Rei's golden hair, and his face and body were stained by black smoke and flames.

Ling clenched his teeth tightly. His usually straight back seemed to be bent deeply by something, and his chest seemed to have a dent.

Those light purple eyes were filled with ashes of sorrow.

Morofushi Kagemitsu suddenly realized——

The person he was looking for was no longer there.

Disappearing in this ashes, in this rain.

…

…

Because of the sudden explosion, the public security team and the firefighters who arrived later naturally cordoned off the scene. The final investigation results determined that it was an accident caused by leakage of aging circuits during rainy days.

They could have taken Shirley back to the police station, but when other police officers arrived, Shirley was no longer on the mountain road. All that was left was an empty car and a broken transmitter.

It is unknown what Furuya Rei later said to his superiors, but they decided not to pursue him in order not to interfere with their undercover mission.

Undercover, still undercover. The disappearance of Scottish whisky did not alarm many people, and only a few people in the organization knew that he was sent to the UK for a year of undercover work. And no one raised any objections to the fact that Zhu Fu Jingguang was so late.

When talking about the explosion afterwards, the doctor told him in a tone of relief that based on the estimated location of the bomb, if he had been one meter off, he would not have suffered just that much injury.

Morobushi Kagemitsu did not answer. He remembered why he had stopped.

Because the person inside pointed the gun at him at the last moment, forcing him not to take another step closer.

He tried desperately to recall the last sentence he heard. His head ached so much that he wanted to bang his head against the wall to pieces. But he was despairingly surprised to find that he could not remember anything.

The doctor said that this was related to the mild concussion he had suffered, and it might also be post-traumatic stress disorder, and further examination was needed. He analyzed a lot of professional terms, and finally advised him not to think too much, to have a good rest, and that forgetting was a self-protection mechanism of the brain, and it might not be a bad thing.

Morofushi Jingguang wanted to laugh at this.

Is letting him forget the last words spoken by the person he loves a way of protecting him?

"good."

Finally he said to the doctor, "I know."

On the third day after the incident, he quietly left the hospital without telling anyone.

…

…

"I'm sorry, I didn't notice this kid got into my car and got caught in the rain."

The brown-haired, blue-eyed girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, was holding a cat box and bowed her head to apologize to him.

"It's all my negligence. Please...please don't scold it."

Matsuda Jinpei had hardly slept for the past two days. That night, he carried an umbrella and searched everywhere the cat might have gone missing, but still found nothing. The next morning, he took a day off to post notices to look for the cat.

At noon, he received a strange phone call, but the voice inside sounded familiar. The girl introduced herself, explained the purpose of the call, and said that she would deliver the cat to his house at noon.

Matsuda Jinpei had just started to say "I'll pick it up" when the other party hung up hastily as if escaping, as if he was some kind of monster that spread curses through the phone.

The black-haired police officer was not wearing sunglasses, and there was a faint blue color under his eyes. He looked very grim even without making any expression.

He had let Hanako go out of his way to raise her out of trust, but this time she ran away and disappeared, which was against his bottom line. He had to teach her a lesson. With a cold face, he took the cat box and glanced at it casually.

The white cat curled up listlessly, its blue eyes meeting his gaze, looking pitiful.

No, I can't be soft-hearted.

Matsuda Jinpei hardened his heart and remained indifferent. He looked at Miyano Shiho and asked calmly, "Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"

The girl shook her head and said, "I have other work to do. I can only come out for a while at noon. I won't bother you."

As she said, Hanako looked listless after being caught in the rain. She was put into the arms of her curly-haired owner, who had a bad parent-child relationship, from the cat box and remained quiet without moving a muscle.

Matsuda Jinpei bent his fingers and tapped the white cat's head gently, scolding it in a low voice: "Will you dare to run away from home again in the future?"

Hanako called out weakly, and struggled to find a suitable position in his arms. Soon, regular snoring sounds were heard.

Seeing this, the brown-haired girl, who had been worried since she appeared here, finally relaxed.

She took one last reluctant look at the cat and nodded her goodbye to Jinpei Matsuda.

I had just taken two steps when I was suddenly called.

"Your name is Miyano—right?"

Matsuda Jinpei rubbed his fingers unconsciously, and his dry palms were sweating from nervousness. The handsome face of the black-haired police officer was slightly tense, and without the cover of sunglasses, his eyes flickered for a moment, coughed, and then fixed.

"What about the person you were with before? How is he doing now?"

"I called, but—"

Jinpei Matsuda was at a loss for words.

——However, the voice from the other end said that the number was no longer in service.

He saw Miyano Shiho's face suddenly turn pale, and she hugged her arms to cover up when she turned around.

"I'm not sure either... I'm sorry."

…

…

The leave has been approved, it would be a waste if you don’t use it.

Matsuda Jinpei hadn't slept for two days, but his mental state was fine. The work of the Investigation Division was heavy and fast-paced. It was common to stay in the car for a week when arresting criminals. He was used to the chaotic schedule.

He didn't go out, but took out two cans of cold beer from the refrigerator. He didn't feel sleepy at all.

Hanako squatted quietly at his feet and ate cat food, with her head almost buried in the bowl.

The carefree little kitten finally suffered a beating from life and became much more obedient. At least it no longer guarded its food when facing him.

Matsuda Jinpei cursed in a low voice, "You have no conscience," and took the opportunity to stroke the cat's head to vent his anger.

The doorbell suddenly rang.

He glanced at the door, put on his coat on the sofa and went to open the door. Through the cat's eye he saw someone - a wounded person.

Matsuda Jinpei slowly frowned: "...Zhu Fu?"

He had bumped into Furuya Rei twice before, and that guy had remained basically unchanged. Compared to him, Morobushi Kagemitsu was like a completely different person.

The black-haired young man wore a duckbill cap, and his long bangs covered his eyes. The color of his eyes was not as clear as when he was in the police academy, but instead was filled with a stagnant look.

The bandage on the back of his hand extended into his sleeves, and there were several abrasions on his face that had not yet healed.

When he opened the door, Jinpei Matsuda smelled the smell of disinfectant on the other person.

His heart sank. "Is your mission with Zero going to be okay?"

"Today's action is a secret. Is it abrupt?"

Morofushi Jingguang smiled at him. It was hard to tell how this smile was different from the one he had in the police academy, but it was definitely different in every way.

"You told me the address of your apartment when you graduated, so I thought I'd try my luck."

He stood still while speaking, his eyes passed over the tea table and lingered for a long time on the white cat under the foot of the table. His lips moved barely perceptibly, "I'm back..."

Matsuda Jinpei didn't hear clearly, but that didn't prevent him from following Morofushi Kagemitsu's gaze and seeing Hanako concentrating on eating.

Past memories came to his mind, and he curled his lips: "I just ran away from home for two days, and was sent back by a kind-hearted person. I remember that Hua was closest to you at that time, and she would rush to rub against you every day."

Hanako finished her cat food, raised her round blue eyes and looked in the direction of the two people who were talking, with her tail curled straight up.

Zhu Fu Jingguang slowly approached, wanting to reach out and touch it.

However, to everyone's surprise, the white cat suddenly jumped away when he approached, with its fur on its back standing up, and breathed at him fiercely.

Zhufu Jingguang's outstretched hand suddenly stopped where it was.

The little animal showed him its sharp fangs and claws and let out a threatening growl.

"Hua! Behave yourself."

After a moment of surprise, Matsuda Jinpei had to raise his voice.

Even when facing a naughty child who came up to him and clamored to be hugged, he had never seen Hanako react so strongly.

"Maybe it's been too long since it saw you." Matsuda Jinping calmed the cat down. He looked at Morobushi Jingguang's pale face and joked to ease the atmosphere, "Who told you to be so heartless that you haven't come back to see it once in these years?"

“…It’s my fault.”

The hand wrapped in the bandage fell down suddenly, and Zhu Fu Jingguang said hoarsely: "It's my fault."

Matsuda Jinpei looked at him steadily for a while, then put away the joking expression he had with his friend.

"Hey, all of you."

Once his voice cooled, it revealed an inhumane sense of oppression: "What happened?"

…

…

Dusk spread over the river bank.

After a heavy rain, the ice on the river melted almost completely. Everything that withered will revive after a tough winter.

When he saw his own reflection in the broken water, Morobushi Kagemitsu suddenly remembered that maybe he had died a long time ago, but at the wrong time, after winter.

The first time was when I learned of the man’s death, and the second time was no more than the same.

How should he answer Matsuda's question? He could only say goodbye in a hurry. Perhaps the other party guessed something and did not stop him.

If that bullet could penetrate his body, perhaps he could make a comparison as to how it feels to hurt someone he cherishes with his own hands.

But what's the use? He should have understood it when he heard the words "There is only one bullet in this gun."

——The bullet was not intended for him from the beginning.

His pocket vibrated. It was the alarm he had set in advance. He should go back to the Metropolitan Police Department before he was discovered.

Zhu Fu Jingguang turned off the alarm clock and when he left the river bank, he suddenly felt water on the back of his hand.

He thought it was raining, so he looked away and then looked down and saw nothing.

A snow that passed through his life melted away invisibly in this way.

From now on, the past and the future are all blown by today's wind. *