Just as Keryo Ikari was about to speak, she suddenly glanced around before getting to her feet.
"Looks like this isn't a good place for us to keep discussing things in detail. My car's nearby. Let's talk there."
"Sure."
Hidari Okumuro nodded and stood up, unable to resist joking:
"I thought you were actually planning to tell me something important right here in the church. I was already thinking about how I should stop you. Even if Jesus himself really is watching over us, we still can't be that blatant about it."
Keryo Ikari responded with a simple smile. "I may not be a devout believer, but I'm definitely a prosecutor who has memorized every confidentiality agreement inside and out. Only when you can recite them backward can you start finding loopholes to exploit."
"If I were still with the Metropolitan Police Department, I'd absolutely consider secretly recording what you just said and anonymously sending it to the Public Prosecutors Office. Unfortunately, I'm not a police officer anymore. I'm a private detective now, and I no longer have any cooperative or competitive relationship with the prosecutors." Hidari Okumuro shrugged and smiled helplessly.
After they got into Keryo Ikari's car, she stopped wasting time and slowly began telling Hidari Okumuro everything she knew.
Over the next five hours, Keryo Ikari told Hidari Okumuro every piece of intelligence she possessed regarding Black Xu Fu.
If a third party ever learned that she'd leaked this much information, there would be no need to wait until the following day. By the time the sky began to brighten that very morning, the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office's internal reporting hotline would already be flooded with calls.
After hearing everything, Hidari Okumuro sat in the passenger seat looking as exhausted as though she'd just finished running several thousand kilometers. She leaned back against the seat, gently closed her eyes, and spent several minutes resting.
Keryo Ikari tacitly understood what she needed and got out of the car to buy two cans of black coffee from a nearby vending machine.
By the time Keryo Ikari returned with a can of black coffee in each hand, Hidari Okumuro had just finished her brief rest.
"Don't you want to rest a little longer?"
Hidari Okumuro shook her head and smiled.
"I'm fine. I'm not really tired. It's just that I heard far too much dense, valuable information all at once, so my head felt a little swollen. After resting my eyes for a while, I feel much better. Besides, after hearing intelligence this packed with useful information, I'm not sleepy at all.
"If anything, I'm a little excited. Just while listening to you talk, countless ideas and possibilities were already appearing in my head. I just haven't written them all down and organized them yet. Once I finish sorting everything out, it should make the investigation much easier."
"If you're not tired, have a can of black coffee. I got so absorbed in talking that I didn't even realize five hours had passed. The sky outside is already beginning to brighten. Luckily, I'm not on duty today, so I can go home and catch up on sleep. Otherwise, I'd be pulling an all-nighter."
Hidari Okumuro accepted the coffee, took a huge gulp, then let out a long breath.
"Back when I was still a detective with the Metropolitan Police Department's First Investigation Division, I'd heard that the Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office had an incredibly dense intelligence network. Now that I've seen it for myself, it really does live up to its reputation."
"The Tokyo High Public Prosecutors Office certainly has a dense intelligence network, but we also owe part of that information to Public Security. I have an old acquaintance over there who's investigating Black Xu Fu too. Every now and then, the two of us trade intelligence with each other. If we're comparing sheer coverage, though, the Public Prosecutors Office still falls far short of Public Security."
At this point, Keryo Ikari looked at Hidari Okumuro with a trace of regret.
"If you hadn't acted so impulsively some time ago and had steadily worked your way through another six years, you might've had a chance to transfer to Public Security."
"As a police officer, is steadily climbing the ranks really supposed to be the standard you hold yourself to?" Hidari Okumuro asked in return.
"Sigh..." Keryo Ikari wasn't surprised by Hidari Okumuro's answer. She merely sighed. "You're just too upright. You always want every single case to be handled with perfect fairness and justice."
"Isn't uncovering the truth in every case and ensuring fairness and justice exactly what we're supposed to do as police officers?" Hidari Okumuro pressed again, stubborn as ever.
"Mm... you're right, but!"
Keryo Ikari deliberately emphasized the final word, then reached out and poked Hidari Okumuro in the forehead as though warning her.
"You're not a police officer anymore. Neither the Metropolitan Police Department nor the First Investigation Division has anything to do with you now. You're just a private detective running an agency in Shinjuku. You need to know your limits.
"Don't let that sense of justice in your heart make you stupidly charge headfirst into every problem you encounter. Now that you're no longer a police officer, even if you really do die, you might not even make the newspaper."
"I know."
Hidari Okumuro nodded, but Keryo Ikari felt as though not a single word she'd said had actually gone in.
"If you really understood, you wouldn't answer me so perfunctorily." Keryo Ikari sounded somewhat helpless.
Hidari Okumuro didn't respond. Instead, she tilted her head back and drank the final mouthful of coffee from the can, then leaned against the seat and spoke in a slightly weary voice.
"Are you heading home now? If so, could you drop me off at the station on the way? In another half hour, I should just about be able to catch the first train back to Shinjuku."
"I can, but aren't you going home to get some sleep?" Keryo Ikari asked as she started the car.
"I'll sleep at the detective agency."
"Straight on the sofa? I'd advise you not to keep doing that. Taking a nap there might feel comfortable enough, but sleeping on a sofa still isn't as good as sleeping in a bed."
Keryo Ikari, who still didn't know much about Hidari Detective Agency, offered the warning.
"I'm going back there to sleep in a bed. Ever since the detective agency was finished, I've moved most of my belongings from home to the third floor of the office.
"I normally live there now. I sleep on a futon, but just like you said, a bed is still more comfortable than a sofa, and a futon counts as a bed. So I find sleeping on it every day pretty comfortable." Hidari Okumuro stretched and spoke slowly.
"Oh, so that's how it is. I thought you were planning to turn into a complete workaholic, go back to the agency, sleep on the sofa for a few hours, then get straight back to work."
"That really is the kind of person I am. Otherwise, I wouldn't have moved my home onto the third floor of the agency. But don't worry. Even though I live at the office, I don't sleep on the sofa every day."
As they chatted, the car started moving and headed toward the station.
...
Saturday.
When her phone alarm went off, Kotomi Izumi instinctively reached out, shut it off, and went straight back to sleep. As she pulled the blanket over her little head, she even muttered softly:
"That's strange. I clearly set my alarm to automatically pause on Saturdays and Sundays. Today's Saturday, so why did it still go off?"
After mumbling that, Kotomi Izumi stopped paying attention to it. She tucked herself snugly beneath the blanket, found the most comfortable sleeping position she could, and went right back to sleep.
But very soon, her phone started ringing.
!!!
At that moment, Kotomi Izumi felt her irritation skyrocket. It was finally the weekend, so why couldn't anyone just let her sleep in?!
She'd only just turned off the alarm, and now someone was calling her?!
Despite being unwilling in every possible way, Kotomi Izumi still sat up in bed with a tiny penguin-like scowl on her face, her beautiful features filled with resentment. Wrapped in a thick cloud of morning grumpiness, she didn't even bother checking who was calling before answering.
"Hello! Who is this?!"
Kotomi's tone at that moment was about as resentful as it could possibly get.
Kotomi rarely got grumpy after waking up, but once she did, it wasn't something that could be soothed with just a few words.
After hearing Kotomi's deeply aggrieved tone, the person on the other end froze for a moment before speaking with helpless amusement.
"My little ancestor, you personally agreed yesterday that you'd attend the autograph session. How did your tone suddenly become this resentful now that I've come to pick you up? And by the way, even if you regret it now and decide you don't want to attend anymore because you'd rather stay home and sleep in, that's impossible.
"The posters, the stage, and everything else have already been prepared, and the announcement has already gone out. Even if I have to drag you out of bed and make you go to the venue in your pajamas, you're still showing up at that autograph session on time today."
Hearing that impossibly familiar voice belonging to Haruno Yukinoshita, Kotomi Izumi froze, instinctively glanced at the clock on the wall, then remembered that today was Saturday.
Kotomi Izumi sucked in a sharp breath.
Her little head, still groggy and longing to sleep in, instantly became completely awake.
Oh no. I forgot the autograph session was today!
Kotomi Izumi hurriedly patted her cheeks, thinking in a mild panic.
Haruno Yukinoshita could hear Kotomi frantically patting her own face through the phone and more or less guessed that she'd probably woken up a little more, so she continued:
"Kotomi, awake now?"
"Ahem... Sorry. I just got woken up by my alarm and had a bit of morning grumpiness. My head was still completely fuzzy. Ah... Last night, I was so excited after finding out that today's my autograph session that I couldn't sleep for ages. I spent forever trying on clothes in front of the mirror and didn't fall asleep until really late. Haruno, it's not too late yet, right?"
Kotomi Izumi spoke somewhat awkwardly, feeling extremely embarrassed. She'd already decided that she was going to dress up beautifully for the autograph session.
If she wanted to make herself look properly polished, Kotomi needed to wake up at least half an hour early. Although she was naturally beautiful enough to stun the entire venue even without makeup, putting on an elaborate outfit still took time.
"I already expected you might sleep in, so I left an hour early today. In other words, you still have a full hour to get ready starting now. If we leave in an hour, we'll still reach the venue on time," Haruno Yukinoshita said with a soft laugh.
Hearing that, Kotomi Izumi immediately felt much more reassured and involuntarily said:
"I don't really want to admit it, but after hearing you say that, I suddenly feel completely at ease."
"Hmph, hmph. You need to learn to rely on me every now and then. After all, I'm your editor and one of the main people supporting you on your creative journey." After hearing Kotomi say that, Haruno Yukinoshita couldn't resist sounding smug for a few moments.
After exchanging a few casual words, Kotomi Izumi was just about to hang up and start changing when a sudden flash of inspiration crossed her mind. She remembered something extremely, extremely important!
"Oh, right! Haruno, I suddenly remembered something incredibly important!"
"What is it?!"
Kotomi's tone was so serious and solemn, and she'd begun speaking so quickly, that Haruno had no doubt whatsoever that she'd remembered something truly important!
Haruno immediately grew tense. Although she'd left an hour early and had effectively created an hour of extra time, if this really was something important, even an hour might not be enough.
And today's autograph session was Kotomi's very first one as Izumi Ki. She absolutely had to arrive on time!
Kotomi hadn't even said what the important matter was yet, but Haruno Yukinoshita was already so nervous that a layer of cold sweat had formed on her body.
Kotomi Izumi slowly spoke, revealing what she considered incredibly important:
"Haruno, have you eaten breakfast?"
Silence.
Silence.
An awkward silence filled the air.
Only after a long silence did Haruno Yukinoshita finally respond in complete confusion.
"Huh?"
Haruno Yukinoshita had always felt that there shouldn't be any major communication problems between herself and Kotomi. Although there were a few years between them in age, it shouldn't have been enough to create a generation gap.
But at that moment, Haruno Yukinoshita suddenly felt that there might genuinely be some kind of generation gap between herself and Kotomi when it came to communication.
I was a high school girl myself only a few years ago, so why do I suddenly feel like I can't keep up with how high school girls think anymore? Are all high school girls in Japan like this now, or is Kotomi the only odd one out?
Haruno Yukinoshita couldn't help thinking that. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't imagine how Kotomi had managed, in a situation where they were already somewhat pressed for time, to calmly ask whether she'd eaten breakfast.
"What's with the 'huh'? I'm asking whether you've eaten breakfast," Kotomi Izumi said while changing her clothes.
"N-No, I haven't. But even if we left an hour early, we don't really have time for breakfast, do we? You still need to do your makeup and change clothes. Once you start getting ready, that'll take at least half an hour."
Haruno Yukinoshita froze for a moment, then answered honestly.
"Don't worry. It won't take half an hour. Fifteen minutes at most."
Kotomi Izumi first spoke with a trace of smug pride, then immediately switched to a spoiled, coquettish tone.
"I want McDonald's for breakfast. Buy me some~"
Just hearing Kotomi act spoiled made Haruno feel as though her entire heart was about to melt!!
While immersed in Kotomi's spoiled tone, forget about Kotomi asking for McDonald's. Even if Kotomi had said she wanted a Cullinan, Haruno would've dared steal her mother's bank card and buy her one.
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