Chapter 89

Winter is really coming.

The JKs walking together on the street are wearing cute scarves, and the office workers are blowing out white air when they pass by and make phone calls. And the warm aroma in the coffee shop makes people stay here unconsciously and don't want to leave.

Kono Seiryoshi's hands, which were covered with cat hair, were so skilled at petting cats that he always prepared three pairs of gloves every time he went out.

Hanako lay on her side on the wooden table in the sun, the tip of her tail swaying in the direction of the stroking. There were not many people in the cafe on a weekday, and a few regular customers were amazed to see the usually aloof cat now being petted and hugged obediently.

"So Hana-chan has other attitudes besides 'How dare a mere human touch me'... Woohoo, why is she so cold to us?"

Kono Seira smiled and thought that it was because Morofushi Kagemitsu was not there, otherwise Hanako would have been able to demonstrate on the spot what it meant to be passionate and crazy.

By the way, speaking of Morobushi Kagemitsu, he should be at the training ground now. Since he received the promise that "you are the one who will obey orders" that day, the next day, Kono Seira requisitioned Scotland's two-month schedule on the organization's intranet, and there would be no missions to interfere during this period. Even Gin could not use Scotland without his permission.

Now that I think about it, it was a correct decision to block Gin's number!

Kono Seiryoshi pinched the cat's ears and was hit by the cat's paw pad, which gave him a slight but not severe blow. He felt a sudden attack of cuteness.

It’s really the right decision to come here today!

Shirley, who was traveling with him, stared at the cat's exposed white and soft belly, a little dazed: "This store also provides this kind of service..."

No! This is a proper coffee shop. We don’t rely on the beauty of cats to attract customers! — The waitress who passed by screamed in her heart.

She served the food and smiled at the familiar customer as she nodded. The gossip flames in her heart ignited again, and she asked carefully: "Um, is everything okay with the last incident?"

Kono Seiryoshi's eyes flickered for a moment, and he thanked her, "It's been solved. Thank you for your help."

"That's great." The waiter breathed a sigh of relief and said happily, "Mr. Matsuda was also very anxious at the time. I was worried that it might be too late."

Faced with the other party's sincere kindness, Kono Seiryoshi choked up and could only forcefully smile: "Really, thank you so much."

Shirley looked up at him while stirring her straw, then covered her face with milk tea as if she couldn't bear to look at him.

She didn't put down her milk tea until the waiter left. She repeatedly asked, "Mr. Matsuda?" There was obvious confusion in her cyan eyes.

Kono Seiryoshi curled his eyes and said irresponsibly: "It's a secret for adults."

“…”

Shirley's expression suddenly fell, her eyes turned into crescents, and she didn't really want to pay attention to him. She tilted her head and focused on looking at the cat wagging its tail on the table.

Recently, the drug experiment of the institute has entered a bottleneck period. The death time of the first batch of mice in the live experiment is irregular. Before finding the result, the progress has to be suspended, and all researchers have fallen into the hell of working overtime day and night.

If this continues, the body will definitely not be able to bear it before the research results are out. Kono Seiryo, who is very experienced in this matter, slightly adjusted his authority and approved a three-day holiday for the research institute.

When he took Shirley out of the laboratory, the girl, still in her white coat, had not yet come to her senses. It was not until the sound of wind chimes and the voice of "Welcome" rang out and the sweet and fragrant aroma of coffee penetrated her nose that her tired brain started to work again.

"I should have changed my clothes and gone shopping." Miyano Shiho complained a little, then cheered up, "Why did you suddenly bring me here?"

She stared closely into the eyes of the person opposite her, to prevent him from saying something like "adult secrets" to fool around.

But this time the answer was so simple that it was beyond her expectations.

"If it's Shirley, she would like this kind of plain and warm place."

Kono Seiryoshi said truthfully: "I like it too."

In his memory, when they were in the same base, he and Shirley would chat for a few words when they met occasionally.

Completely different from the hard and cold laboratory, Shirley's eyes revealed loneliness and yearning when she mentioned the rainbow reflected by the fountain water droplets, the leaves that began to turn red, the stray cats outside the institute - these trivial things.

Although he was trapped in the depths of the organization at such a young age, he always carried out his unfinished research calmly and rationally.

Kouno Seiryoshi skipped the whole story and said, "Anyway, just relax today."

Shirley was a little confused and nodded hesitantly.

If she could hear Kono Seiryoshi's inner thoughts at this moment, she might lose control and want to refute him, but she wouldn't know how to start.

When she had wasted thousands of experiments and was about to vomit because of the smell of the medicine, she would rush to the bathroom and slap her cheeks with cold water while thinking to herself, "What would that person do?"

Be persistent and ruthless, ignore all opposition and keep going, even if you know the outcome is impossible to achieve.

So she imitated him.

Her standards may be wrong, but in the darkness, alone and helpless, this is the only comfort she can rely on.

Miyano Shiho didn't think she knew much about holy wine, it was just that they had been together for a long time and had figured out some of the rules.

But now, meeting the young man's eyes that were slowly flowing with emotion, she suddenly wavered.

——Are the rules that she thought she had mastered still applicable?

"Would you like to give it a try?"

Shengjiu tilted his head slightly and extended an invitation to her.

“…Huh?”

"Want to touch it?"

The young man took off his gloves and pointed at a creature on the table.

When he wasn't smiling, his features were extremely cold, his hair and eyelashes looked like unmelted snow, but his eyes were a brilliant crimson, creating such a strong contrast that it was hard to avoid him.

The handsome young man, who was out of tune with the world around him, wanted to get away, but the cat, who did not play by the rules, grabbed his wrist. He slightly widened his eyes, and was dragged back to the human world by two furry front paws.

He was stunned for a moment, then took the white cat's paw and said, "It won't bite you, just pat its head."

Miyano Shiho let out a breath, as if she had made some important decision, and stretched out her hand solemnly.

Instead of being rejected, the cat rubbed her fingertips in a friendly manner.

"Look."

The holy wine smiled and said to her, "It likes you, too."

--

When leaving the cafe, Shirley specifically wrote down the name and address of the store.

"Does this cat come here every day?" she asked as if she cared.

"Well, it depends on luck."

Shirley didn't comment, and tried to suppress the upturned corners of her lips: "Then let's compete and see who will encounter it when they come."

Kono Seira was a little surprised: "Of course it's possible, but no matter how you look at it, I have the advantage, right?" Although it's not right, he and Hanako are friends for life!

"Who knows?" Shirley paused deliberately and stretched out her voice, "Didn't you say that this child likes me?"

The white cat jumped off the table, circled around Shirley's patent leather boots, and meowed softly twice.

"Be good, I'll bring you canned food next time, so you have to let me win, okay?"

"Meow~"

Kono Seiryoshi: “…”

I'm so sad! At the same time, I'm sad about the two cats he raised!

After saying goodbye at the café, he returned home and continued to study the Metropolitan Police Department file that Bermode had recently sent him. He had already read the two thin pages over and over again for dozens of times, and there was not a single useless word on it. As Kono Seiryoshi looked at his simple life story, he felt as if he were in another world.

Perhaps it was retribution for gambling with the cat, when he was about to close his eyes and rest, he received a call from Hanako's current owner.

Kono Seiryoshi looked at his watch. It was already past ten o'clock in the evening. Why was he calling him at this time?

After the phone call on the rainy night, he and Matsuda Jinpei tacitly switched to text messaging. Even so, they only exchanged a few messages, and the empty chat interface made them look like two netizens who were not familiar with each other at all.

But considering that they are now a police officer and a criminal reserve, this is already the most secure situation.

The call from Matsuda Jinpei came suddenly and hastily. After hesitating for a few seconds, Kono Seira turned to answer it.

The voice on the other end said "It's me" lazily, and he keenly heard something wrong.

"…Matsuda," Kono Seira said, using the tone he would use to talk to a child, coaxing him gently, "Are you drunk?"