After all, when she was getting ready to take a bath, Yoshida Kousuke had cornered her, and afterward she had clashed with her mother several times. She was already quite dirty.
She had also cried for a long time in the park, soaking a large part of her clothes. She really did look dirty and disheveled now.
Yoshida Saki immediately nodded, "Yeah, I'll take a shower first."
But before entering the bathroom, she glanced at Hikari and asked a little awkwardly, "Hikari-kun, could you stay here for now and not leave?"
Looking at Yoshida Saki, who seemed like a timid little deer, Hikari nodded, "Okay."
He roughly understood what she was thinking. She was still a girl who had just broken with her family and arrived in an unfamiliar place. Naturally, she felt uneasy and wanted someone familiar nearby.
After getting Hikari's agreement, Yoshida Saki happily walked into the bathroom.
The sound of running water rang out.
.
.
.
A while later, Yoshida Saki came out wrapped in a bathrobe.
As an ordinary girl, her figure was not particularly exaggerated. In the 2D Underworld, she could only be considered someone who had just begun to develop.
Still, the shape beneath the bathrobe was well-proportioned.
Hikari looked up and noticed her pretty face was red. Whether it was from the steam or embarrassment, he didn't know.
Hikari pointed at the clothes on the nearby table, "The front desk brought the clothes up just now. There are several sizes. You can pick a set that fits."
"Okay, thank you. I'll change later."
Yoshida Saki nodded, but she had no intention of returning to the bathroom right away. Instead, she walked over and sat on the bed.
"Hikari-kun, I refused my mother's request and insisted on sending my dad to prison. Was that too much? Was I selfish?"
After sitting down, she hesitated for a moment before asking.
Looking at her still somewhat confused face, Hikari said, "From my point of view, you weren't too much, and you weren't selfish."
"Your mother's request was unreasonable. Refusing it was the right thing to do."
"Your father was the selfish one. You were just protecting yourself."
"Of course, what matters most is how you feel about it."
"But if you're feeling guilty for people who hurt you, there's no need for that."
Hearing Hikari's words, Yoshida Saki nodded slightly in understanding and felt relieved.
The girl, who had little experience with the world, had suddenly gone through a major upheaval. Her thoughts were tangled and confused.
She asked Hikari many questions one after another.
Hikari answered each one and helped her work through them.
Gradually, Yoshida Saki, who had still been uneasy, relaxed.
After talking for quite a while, Yoshida Saki nodded gratefully, "Thank you, Hikari-kun. I feel much better now. It's just... I'm still a little lost."
"That's normal. Most people spend their lives feeling lost," Hikari comforted her.
Yoshida Saki suddenly blushed and said, "I... I have a request that might be too much. It's... it's..."
Looking at Hikari, she stammered and couldn't get the words out.
Watching her struggle to speak was making Hikari uncomfortable.
"Just say it."
Only then did Yoshida Saki manage to say it, "Um... Hikari-kun, can you hug me?"
"Sure."
Before Yoshida Saki, who was nervously waiting for an answer, could even react, Hikari opened his arms and embraced her small body.
Yoshida Saki instinctively leaned into the warmth.
After suffering one blow after another and being betrayed repeatedly that day, the girl deeply wanted a warm embrace, a place where she could rest without worry.
So Yoshida Saki curled up tightly in Hikari's arms, and her body gradually relaxed.
The two chatted for a little longer.
Before long, Yoshida Saki fell asleep.
Looking at the girl, whose cheeks carried a faint flush and who looked completely unguarded, Hikari lifted her from his arms and placed her on the bed.
Ever since entering the hotel with him, Yoshida Saki had shown no concern or caution toward him at all.
At this moment, if Hikari wanted to do to Yoshida Saki what her father had tried to do, it would probably be very easy.
But Hikari did not have much interest in that.
After all, there was plenty of time ahead. Right after Yoshida Saki had been hurt by both of her parents, he simply could not bring himself to take her first time.
And honestly, in terms of looks and figure, Yoshida Saki was not especially outstanding in the 2d Underworld.
Of course, after what happened today, Yoshida Saki would definitely become very dependent on him in the future.
When the time came, things would happen naturally. If deeper interaction was needed, then deeper interaction would happen.
After skillfully removing Yoshida Saki's bathrobe and covering her with a blanket, Hikari left the room.
After instructing the female manager of the Richter Hotel to take good care of Yoshida Saki, Hikari took a taxi and left the hotel.
After all, he actually had plans today.
While Yoshida Saki had been showering, he had already sent a message to the female investigator, Ikazuchi Rika.
The investigator in black stockings was probably waiting for him at the cafe he had chosen by now.
———
[Inside a Cafe]
Still wearing her investigator uniform, Ikazuchi Rika sat in her seat with one black-stockinged leg crossed over the other, gently swinging it.
From time to time, she took a sip of the coffee in front of her. Then her beautiful eyes wandered around as she waited somewhat anxiously for someone to appear.
At that moment, her phone suddenly rang. Ikazuchi Rika immediately picked it up and looked at the caller ID.
After seeing who it was, she sighed but still answered.
"Noma? What's the matter?"
["Senpai, I have two movie tickets a friend gave me. Would you like to go watch it together?"]
On the other end of the phone, Noma spoke respectfully.
Noma was Ikazuchi Rika's subordinate. He was also her junior from the same university, so she usually looked after him quite a bit.
But regarding Noma's invitation, Ikazuchi Rika immediately refused.
"No. I don't have time. Work is busy."
After receiving three straight refusals, Noma felt unwilling to give up, but as her subordinate, he did not dare invite her again.
Instead, he changed the subject, ["Senpai, are you still working right now?"]
Ikazuchi Rika nodded.
"Yeah. I'm waiting for someone to provide information related to that drug manufacturing group. Once this case is solved, I should be able to get promoted."
Hearing that, Noma Keiji could not help asking,
["The person providing information... could it be that high school boy we met earlier?"]
"It is. Why?", Ikazuchi Rika replied.
With a dismissive tone, Noma said, ["Senpai, we've investigated for so long and barely found any leads. Do you really believe that high school student can provide anything useful?"]
["This is a major case involving a drug organization. How would a high school student get information like that? He's probably making it up to fool you."]
["Senpai, you're not seriously trusting a kid like that, are you?"]
Hearing those words, Ikazuchi Rika immediately frowned and said sternly, "Don't look down on people just because they're young. He has already provided useful information before. The information about that drug-dealing group operating out of the bar came from him."
"And besides, after all these days with so many of you investigating, have you found anything useful?"
"You're telling me not to trust his information and trust yours instead? Then show me some useful leads "
After hearing Ikazuchi Rika's words, Noma immediately fell silent.
Because that hit the mark.
Although Hikari was indeed young, and it sounded hard to believe that he could provide information about a drug organization, which did not seem logical, the problem was that Ikazuchi Rika was right. Despite having so many people investigating, they still had not uncovered any additional information about that drug manufacturing group. That was an undeniable fact.
So Noma had no way to refute her.
"Alright, that's enough. I'm going back to waiting for information."
"And you should focus on your work too. Stop thinking about movies all the time. The case hasn't even been solved yet, and you're already distracted by other things. That's unacceptable."
After sternly scolding him, Ikazuchi Rika directly hung up and paid no attention to what her subordinate Noma might think.
On the other side, Noma looked extremely unhappy after the call was suddenly disconnected.
But as a subordinate, he naturally could not complain about Ikazuchi Rika. Besides, he had his own plans for joining the police department.
So he obediently threw the movie tickets into a trash can and went back to work.
Seeing what he did, several male investigators nearby secretly showed pleased expressions.
After all, people do not fear having less; they fear being treated unfairly.
Ikazuchi Rika was the unattainable beauty of the police department and had always been cold and distant toward everyone else.
Even though she had no special feelings for Noma and only took slightly better care of him, the other male investigators still felt it was unfair.
Now that Noma had also been rejected, they naturally felt much better.
———
[Inside the Cafe]
Just after Ikazuchi Rika ended the call, a figure walked toward her table.
When she saw that handsome face that still carried a trace of youthfulness, she immediately showed a delighted expression and waved.
"Over here!"
Hikari walked over and sat across from her.
After sitting down, he said apologetically, "Sorry to keep you waiting."
Ikazuchi Rika quickly waved her hand.
"It's fine. I wasn't waiting long. Besides, you were taking that girl home, right? That's understandable."
"Oh, right. Let me introduce myself. My name is Ikazuchi Rika. And you are?"
Hikari politely introduced himself as well, "Hikari."
Ikazuchi Rika exchanged a few more pleasantries with him before finally asking directly,
"Hikari-kun, regarding that high-purity drug manufacturing group, what other information do you have?"
Hikari nodded, "I do know several names. They are very likely connected to that organization and may even be members of it."
"Besides that, I also know some other information..."
Although much of the information Hikari provided afterward was somewhat vague, the first piece alone was enough to make Ikazuchi Rika excited.
"Hikari-kun, tell me all the names of the people who might be connected to that drug manufacturing group!", Ikazuchi Rika hurriedly urged him.
"Okay. Their names are Kuze Shi... Oda Kotaro..."
Hikari recited several names in succession.
Ikazuchi Rika carefully wrote them down in a small notebook. After he finished, she immediately called her subordinates and instructed them to investigate.
A while later, Ikazuchi Rika said excitedly to Hikari, "Among these names, two of them are highly suspicious. They were already people we had been paying close attention to."
"Now that we have your information, we've basically narrowed them down. With surveillance, we're very likely to make major progress."
Hikari nodded, "That's good. I also heard that the manufacturing site is probably somewhere in Adachi Ward, though I don't know the exact location. I'd still recommend investigating gradually instead of launching a large-scale search."
Ikazuchi Rika nodded in agreement, "I understand. A large-scale search could alert them. Since we've already narrowed down the targets, we'll gather intelligence through surveillance first and try to catch everyone at once."
"By the way, Hikari-kun, some of the information you mentioned afterward still feels a little unclear to me, so we may need your help with the investigation later."
"Sure, no problem," Hikari agreed immediately.
After all, some of the information he had provided earlier was intentionally vague.
Because he was not really helping the Metropolitan Police Department solve the case purely out of goodwill. He also needed to prevent this beautiful investigator from being taken by someone else.
So from the beginning, his goal had been to become deeply involved in the case.
Thus, Hikari smoothly continued, "By the way, Investigator Rika, when you carry out surveillance missions on suspects, bring me along."
"Hm?"
Hearing this request, Ikazuchi Rika looked at him in confusion.
"Those kinds of missions are dangerous. Why do you want to participate, Hikari-kun?"
Ikazuchi Rika could not quite understand it and worried that the boy in front of her might simply be seeking excitement.
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