Chapter 62

——The Police Department received a call from the kidnapper.

——The Investigation Division 1 immediately contacted the senior management of Nishikawa Pharmaceutical and confirmed the situation at the scene.

——Prepare ransom to ensure the safety of hostages.

——An explosion occurred on the fourth floor of a pharmaceutical factory, and the explosives disposal team was dispatched urgently.

——One of the suspects was shot dead, another was arrested on the spot, 22 hostages were rescued, and no other bombs were found. One person died, but the number was not disclosed at the request of the family.

The explosion shocked everyone, and everyone around could feel the violent shock.

The command room of the Investigation Section 1 learned about this scene in real time through surveillance and was suddenly furious.

"What's going on?! The criminal never mentioned that there was a bomb hidden in the building!!"

"Contact the Explosives Squad immediately! Tell them to put on explosion-proof suits and rush over!"

"Report! The ransom money placed at the designated location has been taken away!"

Upon hearing the news, each of them broke out in a cold sweat - the criminal actually hid a bomb with such huge destructive power. Will he really release the hostages safely after getting the ransom?

"Calm down first!" Megure Jusan shouted, "Since they took the ransom, it means the hostages are still useful to them!"

...Even so, he still wasn't very sure.

The situation had been reported to the superiors, and the command room calmed down again. Megure Jusan wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked in a low voice, "Have the crowds on the scene been evacuated and sealed off?"

The contact person held the headset and shook his head at him with a heavy face.

"The police car sent from headquarters... just arrived."

Megure Jusan was incredulous: "What did you say!?"

--

The hostages were rescued safely. The masked robber was shot dead on the spot when he tried to shoot the hostages due to emotional excitement. Another man wearing glasses still had a dazed expression when he was handcuffed, as if he had lost the will to survive.

After three days of continuous interrogation in the interrogation room, he finally broke down: "I didn't want to do it! I just wanted the money, I didn't want to kill anyone! But they forced me to plant the bomb in the building, I was forced!"

It's ironic to hear a prisoner who is willing to kidnap people at gunpoint for money say that he was forced.

When the police asked him who was behind this, he refused to say anything and just kept repeating timidly, "No, I can't say. If I say it, they will never let me go."

Regardless of whether the people behind it will let him go or not, the law will never tolerate crime.

The explosives disposal team started their operation only after everyone else had evacuated. Even though they had learned from the prisoners that there were no remaining bombs, they still carefully inspected every floor - except the one that had been destroyed by the explosion.

After taking off the thick explosion-proof suit, he looked like he had just come out of the water, and Matsuda Jinpei's natural curly hair was soaked with sweat.

He hadn't changed his clothes yet, and he was typing something quickly on his phone with a frown on his face. The senior beside him was surprised by his typing speed and asked curiously, "Who are you texting? Is it——"

"No." Matsuda Jinpei answered without even raising his head.

"I haven't asked yet..."

Ignoring his senior's embarrassed reaction, Matsuda Jinpei put away his phone, but his frown did not relax.

He originally wanted to send a text message to tell him that he was on a mission, but he found that the previous messages were all unread and his phone was unreachable - it can be said that he hated this feeling to a certain extent.

Is it an emergency or an accident?

As soon as the last option came to his mind, Matsuda Jinpei's heart skipped a beat and he subconsciously didn't want to think about it.

"The mission is over. Let's go, Matsuda." The senior greeted him without holding a grudge, and said with emotion as he walked away, "Kidnapping and explosion, this time I have to write a long report when I go back."

A second before stepping into the police car, Matsuda stopped in his tracks, raised his head and squinted his eyes to look at the still sealed factory building behind him.

The flames were extinguished early, but black smoke was still rising slowly into the air. No matter how thrilling it was, now there was only desolation and misery.

"Come to think of it, Matsuda, this is your first time encountering an exploded bomb during a mission, right?"

The senior sighed and said, "There will be many more such situations in the future, so don't take it too seriously."

"……I see."

Jinpei Matsuda was aware that he was in the most dangerous explosive unit, and he was not a meticulous person who would feel sad about it.

He just... felt a little palpitated for no apparent reason.

--

The next day at work, Jinpei Matsuda came to the Second Investigation Section and went back and forth several times, but still couldn't find the person he wanted to see.

His frustration and anxiety grew, and on his way to ask for leave from the Explosives Squad, he was called into a meeting room.

The man sitting in the first seat had a scar on his left eye. This obvious mark made him easy to recognize. He was Matsumoto, the management officer of the Investigation Division.

The other two were a little beyond Matsuda Jinpei's expectations.

"Hagi? Squad leader?" He frowned and asked, "Why are you here?"

The first time the three of them got together after graduation was in this strange conference room.

Kenji Hagiwara forced a smile, and Kou Date put his hands on his shoulders and shook his head.

What happened next was like fast forward. Matsumoto's heavy apology, the on-site report in front of him, the black smoke that seemed to reappear in front of him - all of them made him feel extremely absurd.

"…The above is the true situation of the kidnapping incident. Because the family members object to the publication of their real names, the list of the dead and the notice cannot be published."

Matsumoto paused and whispered, "As Gong Yeru's closest friends and colleagues, you have the right to know this."

Jinpei Matsuda flipped through the thin pages of the report - the whole incident might be complicated, but when it came down to one person, the content was pitifully small.

"Zhenping..." Hagiwara Kenji almost couldn't continue speaking, and didn't dare to look at Yu Kenran's expression.

Matsuda Jinpei's performance exceeded everyone's expectations. He was very calm, and his well-trained mind seemed to be unaffected. He opened his eyelids and looked directly at the administrator with sharp eyes.

"After receiving a report, the average response time for Japanese police is 7 minutes and 25 seconds."

He uttered a number that was not written in the book but was well-known in his mind. His voice was not loud, but every word he uttered was an aggressive question, "Why did it take more than twice as long to respond to the call yesterday?"

Matsumoto remained silent and said, "…Sorry, it was our mistake."

The oppressive atmosphere spread, strangling everyone's throat.

"…Error."

Matsuda Jinpei repeated, "Okay, the delay in dispatching police was a mistake."

"Why did he happen to appear in a pharmaceutical factory with bombs and armed robbers? Who did he say what in the last phone call? Why did the criminal choose him first? Why did the building explode at that time--"

He suddenly smiled sarcastically, "How are you going to explain it? Is it a coincidence or do you just not know?"

The words were spoken with deep resentment and disappointment.

"...Konno is an excellent police officer. He prevented the most dangerous bomb from exploding, protected the lives of the hostages, and bought time for their rescue."

"The doubts are still under investigation. Please believe that the investigation team will give a satisfactory answer."

"What's the point of you telling me this?"

Matsuda Jinpei said in a hoarse voice.

The young police officer grasped the pieces of paper with such force that they seemed to dig deep into his flesh. The backs of his hands were shaking, and anyone who saw him would have thought that he was on the verge of exploding.

However, when his eyes fell on a certain line of words, Matsuda Jinpei's hostility suddenly disappeared.

As if magma cooled and solidified into a silent stone, he instantly lost the ability to feel anger or sadness.

The person who should know the truth is no longer here.

He saved those people, but until the end, no one saved him.

--

Without a funeral or a tombstone, the apartment became empty overnight, and the so-called family members seemed to have evaporated from the face of the earth, with no trace left.

Jinpei Matsuda was forced to take three days off.

When he left the meeting room, he only said one sentence: "I will continue to investigate."

Even if it's difficult to move forward, even if the resistance comes from within the Metropolitan Police Department.

By the end of May, the cherry blossoms along the road from the Metropolitan Police Department back to the apartment had already withered.

Small, dark and light red fruits grow on the branches of the sakura trees whose smoky pink has faded, and fragments of sunlight are swaying among the new green leaves.

The red light on the sidewalk came on, and pedestrians stood in groups of three or four at the intersection.

An old man with gray hair and a cane, an office worker carrying a black briefcase on a business trip, and students traveling together in dark blue uniforms.

Matsuda Jinpei was at the end of the team, his hands casually in his pockets.

Perhaps it was because I wore sunglasses on a whim today, the colorful world was stained with a layer of shadow, and even the sunlight falling on my body made little difference.

A few meters to his side, a child's clear laughter suddenly came out. This pure joy caught Matsuda Jinpei's attention. Looking sideways, he saw a child of no more than five or six years old running towards the intersection excitedly.

The child was holding a kite as tall as himself, with a big cartoon smiling face printed on it. He ran too fast and too fast, and only saw the kite. He didn't notice his untied shoelaces, so he stepped on them and tripped.

The kite fell to the ground with a thud. The boy who fell to the ground was stunned for four or five seconds. Then he realized what was happening, pouted his mouth, and burst into tears.

"Shota! Didn't I tell you not to run around?!"

A short-haired woman, who was probably the child's mother, ran out of a roadside store and hurried over to check the injury. She heaved a sigh of relief after finding that only a red mark had been scratched on the palm of her hand. "It doesn't hurt, hold your mother's hand and go back together, okay?"

"Don't run away suddenly next time," the woman held the child's hand and said worriedly, "What if you meet a bad guy? Everyone at home will be worried about you."

The boy wiped his tears and nodded obediently, "Sorry, Mom, I won't do it again next time."

He picked up the kite, not daring to run with it, so he held it tightly in his hand. The silk cloth was wrinkled, and the smiling face printed on it was distorted, and in other people's eyes it looked like a tearful face.

[“Don’t disappear for so long in the future. People might think something happened to you.”

"……Um."

"Thank you, Zhenping."】

The green light came on, and pedestrians waiting at the intersection walked across the sidewalk one after another. Matsuda Jinpei stood still, staring at the mother and son in silence.

His appearance was not the kind of gentle and approachable one. His opaque sunglasses covered half of his face, leaving the other half of his features coldly and tightly stretched in the sunlight, revealing an inhuman and aggressive look.

This trait is especially evident when he stares at someone without saying a word.

The young mother caught a glimpse of him, picked up the child whose face was still covered with tears, and walked away quickly with some fear.

Jinpei Matsuda felt like laughing, and in fact he actually laughed.

So stupid.

Whether it was me who naively had expectations, or someone who failed to keep his promise.

Passersby looked at the curly-haired young man with strange behavior at the intersection in surprise. Many speculations flashed through their minds, but few dared to approach him.

The laughter stopped, and the fatigue that had lasted for days came flooding back, making it difficult for me to even breathe.

Jinpei Matsuda closed his eyes, turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

--

By the time he got home and opened the door, it was already late at night.

After turning on the switch, bright lights immediately filled the empty living room. Matsuda Jinpei had just moved in and was very busy with work in the Explosion Team. He hadn't had time to tidy up the house yet, and half of the furniture he bought was still unpacked.

As if he heard the sound of a door opening, he heard the rustling of plastic bags coming from the kitchen. Matsuda Jinpei frowned and walked over to check, and unexpectedly saw a cat trying to pry open the window with its claws.

I almost forgot I have a cat. He was dumb.

"…Sorry, I forgot to put cat food in there for you."

The throat, which had hardly spoken in the past few days, was sluggish and the voice it produced was low and hoarse, which almost made Hanako's hair stand on end in the ears of a cat with sensitive ears.

But soon, the familiar smell of food soothed it, and Hanako's nose moved, and she let down her guard and moved closer.

Among the six people, it has the worst compatibility with Matsuda. After living together, their relationship has been somewhat improved, but they are still not very close.

Among the piles of cardboard boxes, Matsuda Jinpei sat casually on the floor, looking down at the little white cat eating quietly. Hanako had no habit of guarding her food while eating, and she didn't make any noise or fuss. This must be the most docile time for her to be with him.

As if remembering something, Jinpei Matsuda reached out his hand on a whim.

The fingers paused for a moment when they touched the soft fur. After a while, they deliberately relaxed and stroked in one direction.

Someone had carefully corrected his cat-holding posture and claimed that he would win the cat's heart back. Before he had even finished his heroic words, Hanako slapped the curly-haired boy's face with her paw without giving him face, causing the latter to open his eyes wide in disbelief.

In the awkward silence, the man couldn't help laughing out loud.

"Ah, sorry, I wasn't kidding you."

The gray-haired boy held Matsuda Jinpei's hand and said, "You should touch it gently along the direction of hair growth, like this..." His voice gradually faded away, and he said with a soft smile, "Look, it's snoring in comfort."

To be honest, Jinpei Matsuda didn't see any difference between this move and the method he just used, but he still listened carefully.

The soft and warm touch from his fingers disappeared. His movements were too stiff and awkward, and the full cat pushed him away.

Hanako jumped a few steps away, but did not run to the cat's nest to clean her hair as usual. She seemed to have noticed that something was wrong today, and after walking a few steps, she chose to squat at the kitchen door, with her tail coiled up to cover her front paws, and her big, round blue eyes staring at Matsuda Jinpei.

Jinpei Matsuda looked at it.

The light from the living room leaked in a little, reflecting the silent face of the young police officer. He seemed to be shaken by the light, and his black pupils couldn't help but widen, flashing, and then dimming.

Matsuda Jinpei rested his head on the ground, his overworked nerves were slowly being eroded by the pain, and everything he saw in front of his eyes briefly doubled.

He closed his eyes, hiding the confusion in them.

...Why did you end up in a place where he couldn't find you?

Time will not stop for who is still there or who is not. The sun will rise as usual, but it will never be the same sun they once saw together.

After a long time, the curly-haired young man stretched out his hand to the white cat.

"Flower, come here."

The little white cat meowed hesitantly.

As if in silent comfort, the cat took the initiative to touch his fingertips for the first time.

It disappears as soon as it is touched, like a withered petal, like someone you can never catch again.