Chapter 118: Talk about the Day After

The first time the two of them were alone together was at a convenience store near the police academy.

On his first break after entering the police academy, Rei Furuya stayed in the judo hall for a while longer. When he came back, the lively atmosphere had gradually become quiet. He didn't bother to tidy up the room, but walked straight into the store with the shopping list.

Not finding a familiar brand, facing the dazzling array of goods on the shelves, Jōtani Rei carefully looked through the types and ingredient lists of each detergent, and then - reached out and took the one closest to him, preparing to pay.

"Futani-kun?"

There was some uncertainty, but the volume was just loud enough for him to hear when a voice came from behind him.

Fūya Rei turned around and his eyes happened to meet the person opposite him.

At that time, they had known each other for a while through Matsuda's introduction. But they were mostly together as a group and rarely met in private.

"What a coincidence." The young man with gray hair and golden eyes smiled at him. As he approached, he glanced at a shelf and finally paused on the detergent in his hand for a while. He reminded him with some concern: "Well, detergents with high alkalinity can easily burn the skin."

The first in the police academy is obviously a rookie in life. It is better to say that Rei Furuya has never paid attention to whether the laundry detergent burns his hands.

Furiya Ling was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously put the detergent back to its place: "Is that so? Then I--" will pick again.

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly smelled a faint fragrance at the tip of his nose, and his movements paused.

"Fōgiya-kun is the type who washes by hand, so it's better to be gentler. The hand holding the gun should also be well protected."

Which detergent has the lavender scent? But it seems to be a bit lighter...

"2L will be enough for a while...Fenggu-kun?...Fenggu?"

While trying to identify the source of the smell, Furiya Rei suddenly heard someone calling him. When he came to his senses, he met the boy's puzzled golden eyes - "Rei?"

He was so close, and under his eyelashes as long as butterfly wings, he could clearly see the dazed look on his face.

"…Sorry, something just occurred to me."

Furutani Rei turned his head uncomfortably and changed the subject abruptly to the beginning: "I've got it. Is this the model you were talking about just now?" He took it and prepared to thank the other party. Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly realized something, turned his head abruptly, and showed surprise in his eyes.

"Rei."

The boy seemed to see what he was thinking and repeated it again, narrowing his eyes, "Is it okay to call you that?"

As they got closer, the height difference became apparent. So the boy raised his head slightly while talking, looking at him with clear eyes.

There was nothing wrong with calling him by name, but the syllables suddenly became more ambiguous as they rolled through the light fragrance, completely different from the feeling when others called him.

After some useless and inexplicable hesitation, Furuya Rei took a deep breath, and as if making a solemn decision, his voice was stiff when he spoke: "It's okay... Then I should change my name, too."

He paused, but his momentum softened the moment he opened his mouth: "...Yuki."

As soon as the words came out, the harshness between his lips and teeth was washed away.

…

…

Rei Furuya has always felt that Yuki is different from them, or from the atmosphere of the entire police academy.

Being a police officer is not a job where you can just get by by doing nothing. Most people who seek a stable job with this in mind are usually stopped at the first hurdle at the police academy.

In their class, Onizuka, there are many troublemakers who give the instructors trouble. Each of them has their own personality and shortcomings, but no one is willing to admit defeat.

In such an atmosphere where it is easy to get carried away, the boy has a rare sense of stability, pure gentleness, and unique resilience.

It's not that he is not suitable to be a police officer. With his ability, he can do anything well. In fact, to this day, there are still people in the Second Investigation Division who sigh and lament because of the accident that happened that year.

The temperament of the holy wine was gloomy and weak, which was completely opposite to the warm and stable feeling. So before Furuya Rei heard the string of "I'm sorry" in person, he didn't dare to recognize him.

Recovering something that was lost should have made him ecstatic, but he always felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart, as if the crystal that he had found after going through so much hardship was broken by someone else throwing it on the ground without any care.

The ominous premonition came true. None of them thought that the man had been pretending to be resilient until he was completely shattered.

…

…

In the bar where he worked as a waiter for a few weeks, Rei Furuya met Vermouth again.

This time the woman did not disguise herself as a frivolous bartender, but chatted with the boss with another unfamiliar face. When she saw him appear, she waved to her side and stopped at the terrace seat.

"A cup of water cut?"

"Thank you. Straight whiskey will be fine."

Across the interlaced wine glasses and scented candles, the two people passed the USB flash drive tacitly.

Bermode has the common problems of the members of the organization. She is cold, cunning, mysterious, cruel and willing to watch the fire from the other side. Perhaps people who stay in the dark for a long time will unconsciously be infected with these problems, and even he is inevitably affected.

From Vermouth, Fūya Rei obtained information that the public security was unable to obtain through indirect means.

He had a bad impression of Lei before Lei revealed his identity. After learning that Lei's real identity was an undercover sent by the FBI, this strong feeling of rejection did not diminish.

Rei Furuya hated the FBI for meddling in other people's countries, but the latter was completely unaware and reluctantly cooperated twice, successfully deepening the stereotyped bad impression.

But the FBI, which is so good at occupying other people's nests, did not express any objection when the public security team was dispatched to intercept Shirley, and even hastily transferred the agents back to the country.

"We found evidence of the assassination of our colleagues in the home of our own parliament speaker. After this scandal, no matter how thick-skinned we are, we dare not stay here any longer." Belmode said sarcastically, holding a lit cigarette between his fingers.

Furutani Rei pretended to hear this for the first time and raised his eyebrows with interest: "You mean the congressman murder case some time ago? I thought it was the work of that person..." He paused meaningfully, "Isn't it?"

In the rising smoke, Vermouth narrowed his eyes slightly, picked up the smoke, and looked at the night view outside the terrace.

"It's a pity that the organization has spent many years cultivating this chess piece."

After a long silence, she shook her head again, smiled and murmured, "It's better to be gone."

He crushed the ashes of the cigarette into the glass dish. Before leaving, the woman seemed to suddenly remember something and looked at him with a slightly scrutinizing look: "I remember that your relationship with Scotch seemed pretty good?"

Of course, he couldn't tell Bermode about his relationship with Jingguang, but why did the other party suddenly ask about Scotland? Furuya Ling's heart sank, and he answered calmly: "We have been on a few missions together, so we are not very familiar with each other. Is there something wrong with Scotch?"

"No, his undercover operation was done very well, and the intelligence he sent back was also very useful."

"Although he is from the action team, Rum seems to like him very much." Bermode raised his lips, "Don't you feel a sense of crisis?"

Rum——there was a flash of sarcasm and disgust in Rei Furuya's lowered eyes.

Yuxi——

He would never forget the ugly face of the one-eyed man laughing happily when he took the fake tape to report to Rum.

"Well done." As if he had laughed enough, Rum stared at him for a long time with his sinister one eye, and then said with satisfaction, "As long as you continue to listen to me, I will promise you a lot of benefits."

Furiya Ling also slowly opened his mouth, "Of course, this is my honor."

Relying on this "honor", he walked deeper into this huge monster, and became more aware that one wrong step would lead him to fall into the abyss.

He was not surprised that Jingguang made the same irreversible choice as him. As close friends of nearly twenty years, they understood each other better than anyone else.

"You think too much, Bermode."

Fūya Rei put down his wine glass, and the bottom of the glass made a slight sound when it hit the table.

He stood up, put one hand in his pocket with a casual look, glanced at the two glasses of wine that no one had finished, smiled slightly and said, "It's my treat."

…

…

After leaving the bar, Furuya Rei did not return to the base. He went up five floors and checked into a room at the front desk.

Same location, same decoration, even the angle of the bedspread is exactly the same.

They were so close that night that if they bent down slightly, they could see the half-lit and half-dark face in the moonlight.

His temperature and breath were mixed with a faint smell of alcohol.

There were also transparent tears falling on the back of my hand.

He didn't dare to use force, and carefully held the person in his arms slowly through a thin blanket and the soothing heartbeats of each other.

The soft ends of her hair brushed against his nose, and the faint fragrance seemed like an illusion, reappearing beside him.

For example, tonight.

Furiya Rei closed his eyes. Before the new day came, his breathing gradually became regular, and the young man fell asleep peacefully.

【“Have you solved yesterday’s troubles?”】

When they were walking down from the top of the mountain after watching the sunrise, he called him.

【“Well, I guess so.”】Furutani Rei answered.

【"That's good."】

The person standing in front of him breathed a sigh of relief, smiling, his eyes reflecting the morning sun.

[“If it’s Zero, I’ll definitely find the answer.”]

Such a beautiful and hopeful sunrise, he just wanted time to stay at that moment forever.

What is the answer to the question?

The price he paid for this was that he never saw such a beautiful sunrise again.