Chapter 77: He has arrived.
"Hagiwara, what can I do to get your attention?"
"Why are you suddenly asking this? Did someone ask you to ask me about my preferences so they can confess to me?" Hagiwara Kenji's reply sounded casual and cheerful.
"Huh? You're not ashamed at all—" Matsuda Jinpei, sitting to the side, retorted, "Besides, even if a normal person wanted to contact you, they wouldn't contact this guy, right?"
After exchanging a few words, Hagiwara Kenji noticed that Morofushi Sora'aki was still waiting for a reply. He seemed a little troubled: "Get my attention... How should I put it? If you talk to me first, I'll give you a reply, right?"
When suddenly asked this question, Hagiwara Kenji didn't know how to answer.
Matsuda Jinpei hit the nail on the head: "Judging by looks?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "Wait! What's with that look on your face, Sora'aki-chan?! I'm not that kind of... uh, cough! What's wrong with liking good-looking people?!"
Hagiwara Kenji has always been an honest person who judges people by their appearance. Of course, this doesn't mean he has a problem with people who are average-looking. Rather, he has good intentions towards everyone. It's just that when he meets someone who matches his aesthetic standards, he becomes extremely proactive.
Seeing the thoughtful expression on Morofushi Sora'aki's face, Hagiwara Kenji hesitated, wanting to explain but not knowing how.
"Um, I don't know why you're asking this, Sora'aki-chan..." Hagiwara Kenji thought for a moment, "Besides those exaggerated and obvious things that make me feel 'Ah, this is interesting, this is fun', what attracts my attention is, I guess most of the time, I'm the one who takes the initiative, right?"
"To attract my attention... you don't actually need to do anything. If I'm interested, I'll go up to you myself. After all, I was the one who took the initiative to get to know you and Jinpei-chan, wasn't I?" Hagiwara Kenji said.
Matsuda Jinpei: "You've gone off-topic, haven't you?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "...Ah!"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "I understand, it's all about looks."
Hagiwara Kenji: "...So what if I like good-looking people! At least they're pleasing to the eye!!"
Matsuda Jinpei: "He's completely given up, hasn't he?"
Hagiwara Kenji: "Don't think I can't see you two snickering over there!"
•••••
"Thank you for the treat. May I go home now?" Morofushi Sora'aki took a sip of ice water to suppress the spiciness in his mouth and throat.
"Sure, but it's getting dark now. Shall I take you home?" The young man with medium-length hair said with a smile. "By the way, how about we exchange contact information?"
Despite his questioning tone, he had already pulled out his phone without hesitation and winked once: "I have tons of free time lately, feel free to ask me out anytime."
"Once I become interested, I will seize the opportunity and actively approach the person who interests me."
"Putting everything else aside, just look at your face. I'd be happy to secretly tell you some secrets that I can't tell anyone else, wouldn't I?"
"Then observe their preferences. For example, Jinpei-chan likes to take things apart, and Sora'aki-chan likes sweets."
"For example—are you interested in alcohol?"
"Having common topics is best, but even if we don't, if I really like someone, I'm willing to find out their interests."
The man with shoulder-length hair turned his head to the side, a smile on his face that betrayed no danger whatsoever. However, his drooping purple eyes were completely different from his overall demeanor, appearing exceptionally cold. His black bangs fell, casting a shadow in the warm light: "Personally, I quite like this Scotch Whiskey, you know?"
Morofushi Sora'aki put down the ice water in his hand, his gaze falling to the water droplets remaining on his palm, formed by the surrounding heat from the ice in the glass: "I have no interest in alcohol."
"Haha, really? That's such a shame." Hagiwara Kenji propped his cheek up with his hand and asked curiously, "Is it because you're not interested?"
"Or, for some reason, are they deliberately pretending not to be interested?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "Both, because I'm a minor, and my mom will be angry."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
Hagiwara Kenji: "..."
This answer made Hagiwara Kenji pause for a moment. He was clearly stunned for half a second, not knowing what had made him laugh. The man, who had been controlling his tone, suddenly covered his mouth and looked away, shaking his shoulders as he tried not to laugh too obviously.
"Pfft... Haha—" Hagiwara Kenji laughed until tears almost streamed down his face, his words laced with sarcasm: "My God, this is the first time I've ever been rejected for this reason!"
"Okay, okay, it's my fault. I shouldn't have led someone else's good child astray." He said, "But since you're a good child, coming to me today was the worst decision you ever made, wasn't it?"
"It's alright, I'm not interested in alcohol, but I'm very interested in you." Morofushi Sora'aki honestly stated his thoughts.
However, these words can have a different meaning when heard by others.
"Really?" Hagiwara Kenji's smile widened even more. "I'm really becoming more and more interested in you."
"Thank you." Morofushi Sora'aki automatically interpreted this as the other person praising his good looks.
"Good boy, you should go home and sleep now—come on, I'll take you home." Hagiwara Kenji grabbed the jacket that had been hanging behind the chair, but instead of putting it on properly, he just left it draped over his shoulder.
"He's showing off." Morofushi Sora'aki thought to himself as he watched this gesture.
One advantage of using Hagiwara Kenji as a starting point is that this guy rarely takes things seriously from the beginning. Others might expose him directly, making the situation complicated. Only he would temporarily conceal the truth for a seemingly absurd reason like "finding it interesting".
If he could, the last person Morofushi Sora'aki would want to encounter right now is Morofushi Hiromitsu. Furuya Rei's personality is also somewhat rigid and serious… Morofushi Sora'aki recalled his previous encounter with Amuro Touko, hesitated for a moment, and then added a question mark after that name. After all, he didn't know whether the personality template he encountered in this world was Amuro Touko or Furuya Rei himself.
As for Matsuda Jinpei... well, he's the kind of person who doesn't think there's a problem at all, and then just casually asks Morofushi Hiromitsu about it during conversations.
Morofushi Sora'aki propped his chin on his hand, the tip of his pen scattering a few ink dots on the paper: "So troublesome..."
Hagiwara Kenji's stance is not yet clear, but he does not believe that what he did was wrong.
This is actually the most troublesome, because he can naturally pretend in front of ordinary people—or even not pretend at all, directly showing his everyday side. But that doesn't mean his dark side doesn't exist.
He doesn't envy life in the light, because he can still get what he wants. He doesn't need others to delve into his heart, nor does he feel lonely.
In short...
Hagiwara Kenji treated those dangerous missions as ordinary jobs.
He didn't think his behavior was wrong. In his mind, he was just like any other office worker, going to work and leaving work normally, hating overtime, and hating those colleagues who were overly competitive. After work, he could still shed his work and happily do whatever he wanted.
Murder was just another routine task for him.
That's the feeling that Hagiwara Kenji gave to Morofushi Sora'aki. Morofushi Sora'aki himself didn't find anything strange about it, but it just seemed particularly troublesome when combined with his mission.
"To turn Hagiwara into a policeman... what's needed isn't some pie in the sky of justice or protection, but rather, a sufficiently tangible benefit."
"Since they're both just working, and he can act recklessly, procrastinate whenever he wants, and squander the money he earns while working in the organization, then why should he go to the police station that has many restrictions?"
"You can't kill people indiscriminately; anything can happen."
Some people are using moral blackmail, saying that although police officers have good income and benefits, they also have many demands, and it's not as good as the work of current organizations.
"Since both jobs involve the possibility of retaliation at any time, why choose one with more restrictions?"
Morofushi Sora'aki suddenly understood why Hagiwara Kenji had that expression when he told him to be a good person—he wouldn't want to either!
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Morofushi Sora'aki couldn't help but repeat again: "...So troublesome."
Time to move on to a different target. Having spent so much time with Mikoshiba Mikoto, Morofushi Sora'aki hadn't even noticed that some of his vocabulary had completely transformed into otaku jargon.
How can Matsuda Jinpei reasonably and logically approach this world?
Morofushi Sora'aki couldn't help but turn his gaze back to the person he had just passed over.
After all... even in another world, Hagiwara Kenji should still be Matsuda Jinpei's childhood friend... right? So many worlds have started this way, so this world shouldn't be any different, right?
"Friends I grew up with?" Upon hearing this question during their next meeting, Hagiwara Kenji's smile held a certain meaning: "Sure! If you'd like to meet, I can introduce you~"
Even though he knew that Morofushi Sora'aki was approaching him to use him to achieve something, Hagiwara Kenji openly accepted it all because he found it amusing and thought the process would bring him pleasure. Furthermore, he didn't believe he would actually be used; this reflected his confidence and arrogance.
Morofushi Sora'aki stared at Hagiwara Kenji for a while, his blue cat-like eyes not afraid to meet his gaze. Then, Morofushi Sora'aki seemed to have come to some conclusion, he looked away and decisively replied, "Never mind, I'm not curious anymore."
If the target were Jinpei-chan, Hagiwara wouldn't have shown such an eager and expectant expression.
"Eh—" Hagiwara Kenji drawled out the last syllable, speaking in a tone that sounded like he was being coquettish, "But I've already sent the message, you know?"
Morofushi Sora'aki: "..."
Even if you have fast hands, you don't need to use them here, right?
Seeing the obvious "Hagiwara version of the prankster's smile" on the other person's face, Morofushi Sora'aki stood up and decisively said, "Then I'll go back first."
Just as Morofushi Sora'aki stood up, a familiar voice came from behind him: "What are you going to do now, Hagiwara?"